A look back at the Stull’s 2012

It looks like the theme for 2012 was Africa. Two went to Zambia, two went to South Africa, three traveled to Sierra Leone and one spent the summer in Mozambique. Also this is the year for new schools, as three of our five graduated up to a new school this year.

A few memories:

CHRIS

• Experienced the joys of international travel, contracting malaria in Zambia and 4-day missing luggage woes in Sierra Leone.
• Perfected the making of the bacon/cheese/avocado/salsa omelet (reward after every triathlon).
• Discovered Duck Dynasty, and is showing an Uncle Si influence in the way he’s talking these days.
• Started seminary classes, working toward a Master of Arts in Theology/Divinity.

BRENNA

• Led a group of women through a discipleship study corresponding with
  the Chronological Bible (one of the end goals is to be able to share with someone the story of the Bible in 10, 20 or 30 minutes.)

• Completed every form known to man in order to be cleared for international adoption.Her heart was enlarged in Africa when she met J and M, the 9 and 7-yr-old boy and girl the Stulls are pursuing for adoption. While there, the teenage girlfriends at the orphanage fixed Brenna’s hair in cornrows!
• Completed her second Olympic distance triathlon (better this year: didn’t veer off-course to the sandbar in the swim portion, and remembered where her bike was when it was time to transition from swim to the bike portion of the race.)

DILLON (18)

• Took advantage of his Valedictorian platform at high school graduation to share the Good News with 6,000 people.
• After being honored in Washington D.C. as a U.S. Presidential Scholar in June, he saw himself off at the airport and flew solo on a 36-hour journey to spend the summer at The Harvest School of Missions in Mozambique.
• He continues his love of linguistics and learned three new languages this year: Portuguese, Makua, and Arabic (He was even mistaken for a Brazilian, a Mexican, and a Korean at different times!)
• He is attending Baylor University on a full academic scholarship and was honored to represent the B.U. freshman class at Homecoming as the torch bearer.

DEREK (17)

• Refuses to drink out of anything but Mason jars (A clear sign of too much Duck Dynasty time.)
• Is still singing. Recent quotes: “Derek sings 23/7!!!” said Micah. “No, just 16/7, actually,” answered Caleb. Also composed some praise songs and often leads the youth in worship on Sunday mornings.
• Ran two triathlons with the mom and pop.
• Hiked to the top of Long’s Peak – 14,000+ feet above sea level.
• Went to great extremes to enjoy his ENO hammock (even on hot, summer, mosquito-filled Texas afternoons!) He can usually be found in it with his ukulele in hand.
• Played major role in his high school musical, and was recently excited to learn that they were chosen with only 8-10 high school musicals in the U.S. and Canada to share the mainstage at Nationals this summer.

CALEB (14)

• Showed his tenacity coming back from a mission trip in Sierra Leone, Africa: Stood in the pouring rain for twenty minutes before boarding first plane of 36-hour journey home. Upon arrival at DFW airport, he changed into his baseball uniform and went straight to a tournament game.
• Hiked to the top of Long’s Peak – 14,000+ feet above sea level.
• Two days before his big debut into high school, he made meatloaf of his lip and face when he fell fifteen feet face-down on concrete in a parkour-stunt fail.
• Is working on strength training in baseball with the team, and recently upped his squats by fifty pounds in six weeks.
• On a great fall hunting trip with dad, he shot his first big buck, which had a 7-point rack with a 15-inch spread.

MICAH (12)

• Continues his passion for orphan adoption. His almost-daily question: “Did anything new happen with the adoption?”
• Refined his ping pong skills big time and has humiliated many a high school boy.
• Continues to be Mr. Efficiency and No Nonsense (represented by his haircut! Hair is a nuisance when it gets ¼” long.)
• Ran his first duathlon – swim/run.
• Transitioned to middle school without a glitch.

KARIS JOY (10)

• Her heart for those with special needs continues to grow. Every family prayer at meals and bedtime includes, “And God bless Reese, Titus, Madison, Ava, Millie…” At this point the pray-er usually  includes the tagline to keep her from chiming in.
• She finally convinced her mother that a hamster could be an okay thing. Thus, we welcomed Charlie.
• She was blessed with some fun sports moments, including making key goals to help her soccer team win a tourney and placing second in her first duathlon (who knew the girl could swim so fast?)
• She is changing every day in front of our eyes, transforming from a girl to a young woman.

We thank God for another year together, and know that all good things come from His Hand.

We pray His richest blessings for you in 2013.