Greetings from Colorado!
It has been several years since we’ve sent a year-end card, and we do apologize to those who have missed it. As a family, we followed God’s call for Matt to spearhead the effort of replanting a dying church in Monte Vista, Colorado in spring of 2023. This involved moving about three hours away from our previous home in La Junta. We did originally move our livestock with us, but have since bowed to practicality and the reality of our current life stage, and sold the last of the yak herd this past April. Instead, we have a robust flock of chickens to keep us in eggs year-round, along with two new barn cats to help control the rodent populations.
We had to say goodbye to our faithful dog Shiloh in June 2022, after 15 years of wonderful companionship and adventure. We expected to wait quite a while before adding another canine family member, but were quite firmly adopted by a stray husky just four months later. Boaz (Bo or Fluffer, to his friends) clearly came from a mixed situation–he wore a collar with no tag when he showed up at our house, and had no microchip, but was house-trained, knew basic commands, and clearly loved kids. He had some very particular fears and reaction triggers when he first arrived, though, so his previous life wasn’t all rainbows. Thankfully, he seems to have realized that he no longer needs to worry so much about those things and is generally a mellow, steady addition to our household (until he gets the zoomies!). We think he was probably about 2 when he came to us, so he’s around 5 years old now. Ruthie is still doing very well – she turned 8 this year, and does very well with Bo. She snuggles with Mary in bed for the first part of most nights and loves to steal our bean bag chair in the front window for sunny naps.
The Lord has provided a beautiful spot for us to live, with mountain views in all directions and the shelter of a grove of 100-year-old cottonwood trees to give us shade and protection from the worst winds. Matt has ample room for his wood shop, and we have enough space to host community gatherings in our home as well. We are near the main regional highway but off the beaten path of traffic, right in between two lovely towns for easy access to both. It feels, honestly, like a little slice of heaven every day.
Life has been full of changes and growth for all of us – Mary and Eli are in 7th and 5th grades this year (!!) and have transitioned from public education to both being at home for their schooling in the last year.
Mary plays volleyball and basketball on the local middle school teams and remains active in their band program as well, for both concert (flute) and jazz bands (piano). She was also invited to join the high school marching band this year, playing piano and cymbals in the sideline pit for their competition show–for which the group took second place in their division in state competition this October!
Both kiddos are avid soccer players in the local rec league as well, and have both been bitten by the skiing bug – last winter we spent one day almost every week at one of the nearby ski mountains, and we anticipate doing even more this year with some added flexibility in homeschooling! They’ve also been practicing gun safety and target shooting, and enjoying that immensely (always with adult supervision, of course).
Betsy is mostly occupied these days with trying to keep up with the kids! But aside from organizing homeschool and making sure everyone is in the right place for external activities, she has partnered with a new local shop to sell the various crafts she and Matt produce. It’s a new venture, and is still getting up to full speed as folks learn that the store is there, but it’s much less stress than trying to plan inventory for craft fairs and manning booths all weekend.
Matt is always busy with ministry – whether in our local congregation as Calvary Monte Vista is being replanted and discipling new attendees, making connections in the community as a rec league soccer coach, or serving on the state-wide pastoral care team with the Colorado Baptist Association. He also helps Betsy with finishing her laser-cut wood items, provides hand-turned pens and other items as he has time and inspiration for their crafting ventures, and is partnering with local contractors to build custom cabinetry and shelving for some of their projects on the side.
In short, there’s always something happening, and we feel terrifically blessed to be able to contribute and participate in everything we do. We hope that your lives have been as full of excitement and joy as ours has been, despite the disappointments and losses that are always a part of life. May God bless you as you enter the New Year, and keep you until we meet again.
Much love,
The Whitt Family
Matt, Betsy, Mary, Eli
Ruthie and Boaz, Pepper and Cayenne, all 16 chickens
~ Joshua 24:14-15 ~