December 2024
Dear Friends & Family,
We truly can never know what a year will bring! This year
was full of surprises and blessings for our family that left us humbled and
grateful.
On December 30, 2023, Jake sent off his resume with a bit of
trepidation to Clover Pass Community Church in Ketchikan, Alaska. While at our
anniversary dinner on January 5, the pastor search committee there decided
unanimously to proceed with interviewing Jake (even inviting me) on January 9.
They offered to fly our family up to see everything in person, and we did so on
February 9. We toured the grounds, stayed in the parsonage, met the wonderful
people at church, a couple showed us around the area, Jake preached…we said
YES! Even though it would be a huge move, we had peace. After lots of work to
pack and prepare our house for rental, then dance performance and Classical
Conversations graduations, we drove two loaded cars on to the Alaska Marine
Highway ferry in Bellingham on May 24 and headed to a new life!
Jake has settled into life in Alaska like a fish taking to
water. He’s still marveling at getting his dream job, at a church that is the
perfect fit, after over TWENTY years of waiting on fulfillment of a call to
ministry. He loves the congregation and the congregation loves him back – all
of us! – with intention. His days and evenings and weekends are full of sermon
preparation, reading helpful books, administration, meetings with mentors,
meetings with other pastors and leaders here, and lots of meetings with parishioners.
When he can get away, he stays active by lifting weights, swimming in the ocean,
and jogging or biking the beautiful roads and trails around us.
Jennifer has also taken well to Alaska - a fact that still
surprises this Texan! But it’s not about the weather or living on a fairly
remote island so much as having a real purpose and ministry in everyday life.
It very much reminds me of my “golden years” in Bolivia. Being involved with
the whole family makes it even better. Besides running the household, keeping
up with everyone’s schedules, and homeschooling the four girls (in grades K, 3rd,
4th, and 6th this year), I’ve found multiple ways to help.
One of my favorites is playing piano and occasionally guitar on Sunday mornings,
special events, youth group, and church services at the retirement home. There
are plenty of administrative ways to be involved, events to plan, and beginning
this week the older girls and I will take on the church cleaning!
Joel and Michael turned 21 this summer and of course stayed
in Washington with their own occupations. Joel is still stationed at Joint Base
Lewis-McChord in Washington, and we loved his visit to us in Alaska in
November! Michael still works at Peoples Bank in Ferndale. Both study on the
side. Samuel turned 20 in the summer and hasn’t been in touch with us recently,
but hopefully he’s still using his welding skills learned at JobCorps.
Sophia turned 11 in October but looks much older with braces!
She loves her three weekly hours of ballet instruction at the Ketchikan Theatre
Ballet, excels in schoolwork, learned ukulele easily, and is often involved in
singing or kids activities at church. When she’s not reading, she’s making up a
creative game for sisters or working on an intricate craft project. We got our
first kayak this summer and Sophia found she has a love for it!
Lydia is growing fast, too, and is already 9 ½. She lives
for socializing! Gymnastics classes, swimming, playing with friends, walking or
caring for other peoples’ dogs, and being involved with whatever is going on at
church are some of her favorite things! She also reads a lot and learned to
play the ukulele this fall.
Callie turned 8 in November and we went swimming for the
first time at the Rec Center on her birthday! We’ve done a lot of work this
year navigating challenges Callie has and continue to seek the best help for
her unique wiring. She is a great student, voracious reader, plays the ukulele,
and helped sing at church on occasion. Gymnastics is a highlight of her week,
and she’s the only one in her class who can do the splits!
Ana Rose is usually right in the thick of whatever big
sisters are up to, whether that’s a bustling lemonade stand at the busy corner
by church, kayaking, hiking, gymnastics classes, ukulele songs, singing
specials at church, passing out programs. She has blossomed so much this year
out of her shyness! I like teaching her school more than she likes being a
student most days (her perfectionism is a force to be reckoned with) but I’m
grateful to be able to spend that time with her.
All four girls got one or two parts in Ketchikan Theatre
Ballet’s Nutcracker production – three performances! Our whole family was
heavily involved with the Singing Christmas Tree at church, a 33-year long
tradition that was brought back after a 9-year hiatus. Resurrecting it after
all that time was quite a feat but I loved every minute! I hardly know what to
do with myself now that all the rehearsals, preparation, set up, and five
performances are done. My parents and Sarah were in town for both of these big
events, which made it all the more special.
One last note - if you’d like to read our family newsletters
that we write every two months, follow me on Facebook or send me your email and
I’ll include you.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Beatys!
Jake & Jennifer
Joel, Michael, Samuel, Sophia, Lydia, Caledonia, Anastasia
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for writing us!