Tag: last year’s highlights

Posted in memories

Some highlights from 2019

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by NordWood Themes on Unsplash

Keeping an electronic calendar makes it easier to go back and review the previous year. When I do, I’m amazed at all that happened and all the places I went.

Travel included:

  • Late January and mid-August trips to Springfield to see my Dad.
  • February and August trips to Dallas to see my son and his family, including the birth of our 6th grandchild, Josephine.
  • April trip to the graduate’s call service at Concordia Theological Seminary, Ft. Wayne, IN.
  • May trip to Detroit for a spring pastor’s conference.
  • June trip to Orlando for Stephen Ministry Leader training.
  • July trip to Seven Devils, NC, to get away from some of the Florida summer to a nice cabin on the mountain.
  • July trip to Tampa for the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod convention.
  • August trip to Ridley Park for my Dad’s funeral at the church where we grew up.
  • 10 day September trip to Israel!

Family events included:

  • The birth of our 6th grandchild, Josephine on July 26 and her baptism on August 4.
  • The death of my father at the age of 95 on August 12. My brother, my son and I preached at his funeral on August 16.
  • Two of our grandchildren, Daniel and Cameron celebrated their first birthdays.
  • My son and his family from Texas came to visit in June and again in December.

A few other interesting tidbits:

  • I started holding some of my elder meetings by teleconference. Worked well, especially since some of the church elders live some distance from the church.
  • I got to preach a dialogue sermon with Pastor Brent Hartwig, the uncle of one of our confirmands in April. It was both fun to prepare and deliver.
  • I got to assist in the worship service where my son baptized his newborn daughter, Josephine.
  • I build a really cool wooden fort/swing set in our backyard for the grandkids.
  • Lots of trips to playgrounds, zoos, attractions, restaurants, and movies with the grandkids.
  • I announced my retirement from full-time pastoral ministry, effective July 26, 2020.

I could add to that all the weddings, funerals, baptisms and celebrations I was a part of, too. I am so grateful for a great year!

Posted in remembering

Just a few 2018 highlights

Posted on by William Douthwaite

Looking through last year’s calendar, here are some of the highlights of 2018.

I traveled to:

  • The Collector Inn with Lisa in St. Augustine, FL in January.
  • Dallas with Lisa to visit my son and his family in March and again in July.
  • Richmond, VA with Lisa while she attended a conference, and also to see Tim and Julie, Brian and Kate, and my Dad.
  • Detroit, MI for the English District convention in June.
  • Springfield, VA to see my dad while my brother was on vacation.
  • Regional pastor’s conference in Ocean City, NJ in October.

As best as I can put together, I prepared and preached 60 sermons, performed three weddings, did six baptisms, and conducted eight funerals.

Grandson Daniel was born September 14 (fourth grandchild). Granddaughter Cameron was born December 20 (fifth grandchild).

My son Adam and his family came to visit Christmas (2017) and New Years (2018). My daughter Kate and her husband Brian came to visit over Memorial Day weekend. They moved in with us for a few months in July and August till their new house in St. John’s county closed.

I started CrossFit with Lisa in October. We remodeled our house in June and July: new floors, kitchen cabinets and bathroom cabinets. We celebrated our thirty-fourth wedding anniversary, too!