JANUARY
The
new year began with a trip to Georgia to see old friends in Athens and Atlanta.
As a late anniversary celebration, we saw “Newsies” off broadway in Charlotte
and I tried to convince Nat to have another kid just so we could name him
“Cowboy.” Over MLK weekend the 5 couples in our small group took a kidless trip
(except we brought Macy Heart) to Knoxville to stay at the Chesney’s farm and
Natalie and I finished 2nd place in the sharpshooter competition. As
we thought about Honey going to Kindergarten in the fall we discovered the
University-Model School model, somewhat of a hybrid between traditional school
and home schooling. We began dreaming about one starting in GSO.
FEBRUARY
We surprised the kids with our 1st trip
to Great Wolf Lodge indoor waterpark. They’re convinced it’s even better than
Disney World, so please don’t tell them differently. Greensboro became a Winter
Wonderland and we had snow much fun sledding with the neighbors. We formed a
board for the school, choose a name and embarked on the whirlwind that would
become The Covenant School.
MARCH
It
was good for my soul to have a weekend away in the mountains with some college
buddies. I’m grateful for 20 year old friendships that continue to draw me
closer to Jesus. Natalie also had some girl bonding on the Church of the
Redeemer women’s retreat at Ocean Isle.
APRIL
I
turned 37 and celebrated with 30 days of yoga poses on Instagram. It was a
treat to get to be back out in Colorado at Crooked Creek Ranch for the WyldLife Summit (Young Life for middle schoolers).
MAY
Hutch
turned 3 and Honey graduated from Mt. Pisgah Preschool. She quickly
transitioned to summer time, joining the swim team and taking tennis lessons at
our neighborhood pool. We picked a lot of strawberries and enjoyed water skiing
at High Rock Lake with the Crafts. We began holding interest meetings for The
Covenant School and started the process of hiring teachers and a school
director. Nat’s dad, Bill, began a steeper decline in his health due to his
battle with cancer.
JUNE
Nat
turned 35 and we celebrated with a new HVAC unit after being without AC for 15
days. I lost 7lbs of water weight….which I quickly gained back through nightly
consumption of homemade ice cream on the Hill-Craft Ocean Isle Beach
extravaganza. My brother, Blake, convinced us to take family photos on the
beach dressed as Hipsters, another one of his many strikes of brilliance. Our 2nd
born assumed a new identity as ‘Super-Hutch’ after we shaved his head into a
Mohawk. I enjoyed my only time cooking this year as I was assigned chef duties
for our Church of the Redeemer staff retreat in the mountains of Virginia. Our
Senior guys Campaigners group braved the cliffs and waterfalls of Pisgah
National forest on the annual Young Life ManTrip. After an unsuccessful surgery, we had to move
Bill into a nursing home.
JULY
Honey turned 6 and we went to her 1st ever concert for the
Outcry Tour in the Greensboro Coliseum. Applications began to come in for TCS
and we fervently prayed and frantically searched for a location for the school.
I loved getting the privilege to speak to high school students for a week at
Camp Impact outside of Houston, TX. Our highlight of July was launching ‘CampBooyah,’ a brand new summer mission camp for Anglican youth. We gathered
teenagers from 5 churches in NC and are excited to do it again this coming
summer in Kannapolis, NC.
AUGUST
Macy Heart turned 1 and we went to North Myrtle
beach with Nat’s family. I was pumped to have a ton of new small group
leaders volunteering with the Redeemer Youth Ministry and we went hiking at
Hanging Rock. We hired 3 teachers for
TCS and found out that my sister, Abby, and my brother-in-law, Allan, were
expecting their first child in April. Nat’s daddy continued to weaken and we
received the hard news that the end was near. We moved him home with hospice
care.
SEPTEMBER
On the morning of September 2nd,
Bill Leonard went to be with Jesus. My brother in law, Nate, gave a eulogy at
the funeral that would’ve made his daddy so proud. It still doesn't seem real.
At our family Christmas gatherings I’ve caught myself looking around for him. Please continue to pray for Nat, her mom,
Mary, and our family as we grieve his loss and yet rejoice in his healing. On
the morning of September 8th, the doors of The Covenant School were
opened for the first time.
OCTOBER
After a summer filled with camps, vacations and
taking care of Bill, we finally celebrated Heart’s 1st birthday, 2 months late.
We spent a weekend in Virginia Beach celebrating Natalie’s cousin, Mary Kate,
getting married. I was privileged to speak at a spiritual life emphasis week at
a high school in Augusta, GA and on the way home discovered that our rental
house in Athens had been wrecked by our renters. It led to a nightmare of
repairs that thankfully has finally wrapped up. Being children of a YL leader,
our kids claim Halloween as their favorite holiday and love playing dress up so
much that the largest closest in our house is completely devoted to skit
clothes. My parents, Lolli and Pops, were great sports and completed our band
of 7 ninjas as we terrorized the neighborhood on Oct. 31st.
NOVEMBER
We celebrated our 11th wedding
anniversary and my favorite year of marriage yet. The longer I hang around
Natalie Hill, the more I see Jesus. The hardest part of November was sadly
saying farewell to Hutch’s Mohawk after school picture day. Those were a
special six months. We miss ya Mo’. We attempted a family photo shoot to get a
Christmas card picture. Thankfully it was not as miserable as it could have
been thanks to my brilliant wife, tons of candy, and monetary bribery.
DECEMBER
The senior guys Campaigners group pulled off an
amazing 6th annual ‘Northwest Young Life Mr. Christmas Tree pageant.’
Nat and I went to Andrew Peterson’s annual ‘Behold the Lamb Concert’ with our
small group and the kids loved spending the night at Chuck E Cheese with the
Crafts. Natalie made me cry like a baby when she surprised me and turned our
basement guest bedroom into a prayer room and sacred space to meet with Jesus.
Honey sang her first solo, “Happy Birthday Jesus,” in our children’s Christmas
program. The kids were excited to discover a new trampoline in our back yard
for Christmas and the summer weather in December has made it extra enjoyable.
Young Life
In addition to my job as the associate pastor for youth and worship at Church of the Redeemer, we're continuing to raise support for my part-time job with the Young Life Communications department running YoungLifeLeaders.org.
If you would like to financially support us, you can make a tax-deductible online donation here. Under gift designation, search by staff member’s name for ‘Drew Hill.’ Choose a monthly, quarterly, or 1-time donation.
You can also mail a check to: Young Life, PO Box 70065 Prescott, AZ 86304-7065. Please make it payable to
‘Young Life' and include “1900- Drew Hill”
in the memo. If you need help, feel free to call or email me. THANK YOU!
Happy New Year,
Drew, Natalie, Honey, Hutch and Heart
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