As we step into 2022, we’re trying to be open to all possibilities and not make too many firm plans. The year 2021 taught us to not assume the coming year will be better than the previous one, but we are confident 2022 will bring blessings along with the challenges just as 2021 did.
2021 started out well. Jeff announced he would be stepping down as the pastor of Trinity UMC at the end of June. He called the decision “semi-retirement” hoping to spend more time with family and continue to teach part-time at Bethel University. Cathy got a good report from the MRI one year after the surgery to remove a tumor in her brain. Unfortunately, around the same time Jeff’s mother was diagnosed with glioblastoma (a highly-invasive malignant brain tumor) and in February was given six weeks to live.
2021 started out well. Jeff announced he would be stepping down as the pastor of Trinity UMC at the end of June. He called the decision “semi-retirement” hoping to spend more time with family and continue to teach part-time at Bethel University. Cathy got a good report from the MRI one year after the surgery to remove a tumor in her brain. Unfortunately, around the same time Jeff’s mother was diagnosed with glioblastoma (a highly-invasive malignant brain tumor) and in February was given six weeks to live.
As difficult as the situation was, Jeff was able to spend time with his mom in Indy each week because of the generosity of the Trinity congregation and Cathy being able to take on some of his pastoral duties. Jeff’s siblings rallied together—his brother John flew in from Nevada nearly every week and his two siblings in Indy were there for his dad and mom on a daily basis. One of the blessings Jeff saw was how his dad handled the situation: making wise decisions, staying kind and patient under trying circumstances, and demonstrating what it means to live out the marriage vow of being there for one another “in sickness and in health.” Another blessing was how Jeff and his siblings were able to bring their unique gifts into the situation and work together to care for their parents. Prayers of our family, friends, and two congregations carried us through.
In the midst of his mom’s illness, we were navigating the move from the Plymouth Trinity parsonage to the parsonage at Tyner UMC where Cathy is a part-time pastor. When Jeff’s mother passed away in June (proving the doctors wrong by living longer than predicted), we celebrated her life with friends and family—another blessing that likely wouldn’t have happened in 2020 when many families were not able to hold funerals due to COVID restrictions.
As we settled into the quiet of the Tyner countryside, we welcomed the opportunity to walk on dirt roads with the deer, wild turkeys, and cattle in the morning. It was good for our souls and our bodies! We began to transition from a more hectic pace of life into one with more balance.
As we settled into the quiet of the Tyner countryside, we welcomed the opportunity to walk on dirt roads with the deer, wild turkeys, and cattle in the morning. It was good for our souls and our bodies! We began to transition from a more hectic pace of life into one with more balance.
In early July, Jeff took a road trip to Nevada to visit his brother John and help his niece move to Arizona. He also visited Albuquerque and unwound in the desert Southwest. TJ, Will, and their girlfriends Madi & Kathy visited Indiana for a jam-packed long weekend later in July. Cathy’s entire family, including her brother from Oregon, was together for the first time in several years. Jeff’s family celebrated nephew Jimmy’s wedding that same weekend. Our family got in brunch and a day at the Indianapolis Zoo before they headed back to Austin, TX. We put a lot of miles on the van and made wonderful memories that weekend!
TJ and Will are both working for Bazaar Voice now, Will in finance and TJ providing technical support and training for a team of salespeople. They came to Indiana for Thanksgiving and we decided to go to Austin to spend Christmas with them since it was the first Christmas in decades that neither of us had responsibilities for church events on Christmas Eve. Spending time with the boys, as well as Madi and Kathy, was such a blessing ! We enjoyed the weather, hiking, Top Golf, the weather, disc golf, baking cookies, the weather, Christmas Eve service at their church (Gateway Church), and lots of delicious food (Indian, Thai, Torchy Tacos, Mozart's & Summer Moon coffee & pastries, and the biggest pork chops we’ve ever eaten at Perry’s Steakhouse on Christmas Eve). Both the Wesolek and Stueve families tend to measure the success of a vacation by the food eaten and this one was STELLAR in both quality and quantity! Unfortunately for us, we missed the arrival of our new “grandpup” by a couple of days. TJ wisely adopted Finn, a long-haired dachshund, on December 27 after the holiday.
Because we serve at the pleasure of our conference bishop, we are not 100% sure where we will be after June 30, 2022. We’re spending some time now thinking, praying, and being open to possibilities. Jeff’s been posting a blog weekly on our website “Bold Discipleship” and we hope to develop this ministry more as we have fewer full-time ministry responsibilities. Our word for 2022 is “present.” If 2020 and 2021 taught us anything, it is to value each day and the people we are blessed to call family and friends. Our goal for 2022 is to be more present in life each day and less focused on the future.
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