Dear Friends,
I am sitting in an upstairs room of my former childhood home in Dallas. It’s 80° outside and the Texas sun is beginning to set on this 9th day of December. The room I’m in used to be my dad’s studio but it is now the master bedroom in Ray’s and my renovated house, and frankly at times it feels a little surreal.
The Medinas, like so many others over the past two years, have been on a wild ride! For those of you who want to know, here are a few of the details:
2020:
February – Ray Jr. drives cross-country from Pennsylvania to California to his new pastoral position at Bidwell Presbyterian in Chico, CA where he will continue working on his Doctor of Ministry degree on the side. A week later, Jeannine, Micah 8, and Jayden 6 fly (accompanied by Papi Medina) from Pittsburgh to Sacramento to head into their next chapter.
May - I leave Willow Creek staff to start my own online discipleship ministry
July - Ray and I, untethered to a location by a job, put our Wheaton house on the market with very little idea of where we will go if it sells!
Early October – I begin publishing a daily meditation on the Gospels from my new website everydayjesus.org (designed by my incredibly talented daughter)
October - my sweet mom passes away in Dallas after a long battle with Alzheimer’s
December – Laura leaves her job at Coca-Cola and begins working remotely for Amazon’s UX team (that’s the insider way to say User Experience) – Taylor is already working remotely for Amazon at this point and per usual I don’t fully understand his complex job
2021:
February – Laura and Taylor move cross-country from Atlanta to downtown Seattle (the land of the Amazonians)
Late February - Ray and I make the decision to renovate my mom’s Dallas house rather than sell it “as is”
Early March - Our Wheaton house sells!
May – I accept a job with 4word, a global non-profit that empowers Christian women in the workplace, and though the position is remote, the leadership team lives mostly in… Dallas
Mid-May – Our stuff leaves in PODS, and Ray and I head for Dallas to oversee house renovations. We move into a 17th floor condo overlooking Turtle Creek
June – I begin my work directing all of the programs for 4word
August – With the house around 80% complete, we move in
Sometime in the Summer• – Taylor moves to the Gaming Team at Amazon – Micah (now 9) is blown away when he hears that this could be an actual job
And that brings us to December 2021 and the upstairs room in what is now Ray’s and my home.
The world has certainly shifted, and we know that for some of you it’s been a bumpy ride. We are blessed to call you friends and we continue to pray for you and hold you in our hearts. If the world gets a little cold or you need a break from your own wild ride, just know there’s a guest room waiting for you in Dallas.