Dear friends,

A blessed Epiphany and happy new year to each and all of you! This post has been too long in coming, and many of you have been so patiently waiting for a fuller update from us. So without further ado, here’s what’s going on:

First, the Lord has graciously provided a house for us in Nashville. We’ve found a place in the Bellevue area that is ideally located in reasonable proximity to church and work. The place we’ve found is a 90s one-level ranch that we were able to purchase with my parents’ help far below our budget, which will allow us to do some significant remodeling for updates and accessibility. We’re so grateful to have found this place, and we’re planning to move in about a month.

Over the past week, we had the opportunity to travel to England with our dear friends Nick and Hannah, who are godparents to our son Sammy. My parents were so kind to watch the kids in Indianapolis while we were away. We were in London, Oxford, and Cambridge, where we visited lots of beautiful historic churches (St. Mary the Virgin, Oxford; Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford; St. Barnabas, Oxford; St. Bene’t’s, Cambridge; King’s College Chapel, Cambridge; HTB, Onslow Square, London; St. Paul’s Cathedral, London), visited some wonderful places (National Gallery, Tate Modern, Oxford Martyrs’ Memorial), and enjoyed some wonderful English fare (including cream tea and sticky toffee pudding). We were also able to see our advisor and friend Jeremy as well as an old mentor Sam.

For us, going to England is part fun getaway and part spiritual pilgrimage. As Anglicans, it’s a gift to connect with the mother church of the Communion, and to worship in the places where people like Thomas Cranmer, John Donne, John Wesley, and John Henry Newman have preached.

As wonderful as the trip was, the reunion with Sammy and Lizzy was equally glorious. This was by far the longest we’d been away from them, but they had a great time with their grandparents. They are both growing up—Sammy (now 4 ½) is into Legos and doing sets for kids twice his age, and Lizzy’s (2 this month) language is exploding.

Christina is still loving her work at Belmont. She has finished a semester of two sections of the Christian Doctrine course alongside her colleague Steve, and she’s just finished an essay on the Holy Spirit and the art of Olaffur Eliasson for an edited volume. She’s now laser focused on finishing her dissertation over the next few months, which was delayed by our eventful summer. Her work at Belmont involves a grant project related to the arts, worship, and children, and it was announced that this project will become part of a larger center for Christianity and the arts which Belmont is starting with a $34 million grant they’ve just received from Lilly. Exciting things are afoot at Belmont!

There have been several highlights for me over the past few months. One was traveling to Dallas for a conference called Radvo at Church of the Incarnation where I was able to see so many friends, colleagues, and former students. I was able to introduce my former supervisor and mentor in one of the keynote sessions, even though I was on a scooter with my leg in a plaster mold. 

Another highlight was traveling to Jacksonville, FL at the end of November for a healing prayer retreat at Christian Healing Ministries. Several people very kindly donated to cover the entire cost of my trip, which was prompted by a dear friend and former student, Zach Croonquist. There is so much I could say about this time—the teaching and times of prayer were powerful, and it was wonderful to be with so many people who believe strongly in the Lord’s power to heal. I believe more strongly than ever before that the Lord is able to heal me, and that he wants to heal me.

For now, I continue to notice signs of increased weakness in my hands, arms, and legs (though my ankle break has healed quite remarkably!). I am slower in walking, and I’ve noticed my speech has become a bit more labored. I used and benefitted greatly from walking sticks when we were trekking around England. Thankfully, my breathing has remained strong, and I even increased a percentage point in my measurement at the ALS clinic from October to December. I continue to participate in the clinical trial, and I have reason to believe I have the drug rather than the placebo (very mild GI symptoms that started when I started the pills)—thanks so much to all of you for praying for this!

The final highlight to share is that as of this month, I’ve begun a part-time position as priest associate at our church, St. George’s. I’ll be preaching, participating in leading the worship, teaching some adult ed classes, and other duties as assigned. I will continue to work on my doctoral studies in theology at Duke with the majority of my time, but I’m thrilled to be serving on a wonderful staff at a wonderful parish whose vision is to receive, live, and share the abundant life of Jesus Christ. 

Thanks to all of you for your continued prayers for us. The Lord has been so kind, and we look forward to seeing even more of his goodness in the coming year. As you are led to pray for us, would you please pray for these things:

-       Pray that Christina would have the time and energy to finish her dissertation in these next few months.

-       Pray for my new ministry at St. George’s, that the Lord would use me to serve his people.

-       Pray for me to have the energy and health I need to serve at St. George’s and make progress in my doctoral studies.

-       Pray for my complete restoration to health.

We love you all, and we are so grateful for your ongoing prayers, friendship, and support. May the Lord bless you richly in this new year!

With love,

Joe