To say that I have been remiss in blogging for basically the last two years is . . . well, in a word, accurate. You would think that with the "home time" due to the onset of Covid in early 2020, I would have found (made) more time to sit, reflect, pontificate, put down in words the "goings on of the Turners." I didn't.
But . . . here we are in the week leading up to Christmas in 2022 and alas, I find myself sitting down, reflecting, pontificating (in my head) and putting down in words the recent (ish) goings on of the Turners. Sit back, grab a cup of your favorite beverage and be ready to be amazed! At least, hopefully entertained!
For the uninformed, we moved to Rome, GA in June of 2020 after living in Nashville for 30plus years! We left many friends with little to no fanfare because most things were still shut down due to Covid. That was a weird end to our time in Nashville in many ways. I took a role a WinShape and get to work alongside a team of incredible people where we partner with ministry leaders in training college aged young adults to lead bible studies in their context (school, work, church, neighborhood). I have had some pretty great roles in ministry, but this is the most rewarding and fun role that Lord has allowed me to steward. (Call me when you have an hour or so and I will catch you up.)
We live 2 blocks from Mark/Shelbi/Josiah and MacKenzie. Sondra and I having the role of Granna and Babu is so much fun!
2022 -
Who can remember all that we have done? It is a bunch.
Sondra continues to be on staff at Hermitage Hills Baptist as the bookkeeper along with some HR duties. Remote work is amazing and she works roughly 15 hours per week.
Sondra's mom and aunt are 89 and 93 and live about 10 minutes from us in a memory care facility. Sondra does an amazing job keeping up with all the things related to them. Truly, watching her serve and love them is nothing short of beautiful. As with any memory patient, there are many highs and lows, laughs and cries and at times joyous and other times agonizing experiences. The Lord continues to be faithful and while Joyce and Nola are both physically very strong for their age, the memory loss issues continue to progress.
My dad continues to live in the Kansas City area and came for a week in June to visit and hang out. He is 82 and really enjoys some pretty good health. My brother, James, lives a few miles from him and checks in on him regularly since he works at the apartment complex that dad lives. All in all, they are doing pretty good. Mom passed 15 years ago this past week and time sure flies and crawls at the same time. She was a good one for sure.
Mark and Shelbi are doing well and are great parents to Josiah and MacKenzie. They do all things little kids do like catch all the latest funk at daycare and try to share it with everyone they meet. Mark is about to begin the Executive MBA program at the UT-Knoxville and continues to work at a financial firm. Shelbi is a big deal at Atrium Health/Floyd County Hospital here in Rome in charge of nurse education.
Wilson and Morgan are living their best life in New Zealand! They moved there in November of 2020 and really have thrived! Morgan does online coaching with Faster Way and Wilson is serving patients suffering from kidney malfunction and needing dialysis. We were able to go to New Zealand in August/September and spend some wonderful time with all of us together. There are just too many stories to tell from this trip in this blog but if you go back through my FB or Insta you will see many pics from our time there in NZ. Morgan and Wilson will be moving back to the States in early May 2023. Let me also add this - Wilson is a tour guide extraordinaire! I love the way got input, planned and executed. One of the other hidden treasures of the trip was to meet so many of their friends how have cared for them while they have been in NZ.
I posted our Christmas pic at the beginning of this post and if you are wondering "who is that young woman on the right?", that is Addie Grace Trejo who is a family friend of Mark and Shelbi (and the rest of us too). She went along with us to NZed to help with Josiah and MacKenzie. Addie Grace is a recent graduate of the University of Georgia (but not an obnoxious fan), works at WinShape and is getting married in April. When we took this pic (some random lately snapped it for us), we thought "this very well will be our Christmas pic for this year" and it was the best of all that we had. So Addie Grace is "officially a part of the family"!
Our snail mail is 29 Royal Oak Drive NE, Rome, GA 30165
You can call at 615.403.3138. I probably won't answer if you are not in my phone address book but leave a message and I will call you back.
Come see us some time and if needed, make checks payable to Paul Turner or I can send you my Venmo account too. 😏
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
We love most of you, like some and tolerate the others! You can decide where you fit!
