Welcome back to our "Drury Family Update" which is an annual blog. As we always say, "It's the only blog you can easily keep up with because we only post once a year." This year the Assistant (to the) Managing Editor of the "Drury Family Update" (you can guess who that might be) is just going to post the updates from each of our immediate family of 5 in no particular order. The pictures are a little less "curated" and professional than in the past as well, preferring to post some more random pics from our times together this year here. Have a great 2023, friends and family!
Kathy
I will share some of the blessings and positive things of 2022 here. Lauren, Dave and I enjoyed 2 weeks in February in Brooksville FL. We took lots of walks on the trail and made a day trip to Clearwater Beach and watched lots of Olympics. In March I turned 50 which was a milestone for me. In May, I was the cook for Dave's coaching retreat in Cassopolis, MI and we had a great time doing that together. Later that month Dave and I went to General Conference in St. Louis. In July Dave and I went to McCormick Creek State park in Indiana to celebrate our 26th anniversary. Also in July I began training to become a Dept. of Justice accredited Representative to help people with their immigration process. In early October I passed the big test, thankfully, but training for me continues. In August I also began working part time for the national office of Immigrant Connection (who I will do legal work for later also). I can work remotely which is very convenient. The 3 of us went back to Brooksville, FL in October for 9 days for fall break as well.
Lauren
This year was amazing and filled with many adventures. In February, I went on a trip with my mom and dad to Florida to visit family for 2 weeks. We celebrated my Grandma’s birthday and did many fun things throughout the trip. In March, I got my first job at the YMCA. I still work there now and I absolutely love it. I work with children. I went to the prom here locally in April and my sophomore year ended in May. At the beginning of June, I had a voice recital. In July, I turned 17. I celebrated my birthday at the Sugar Factory in downtown Indianapolis with my family. I also went to a lake in Indiana with my best friend to celebrate the 4th of July. In August, I spent the day at Kings Island with my family. My junior year of high school also started. I had a lot of dual enrollment classes this year so school got a lot more difficult. In September, I visited the Immigrant Connection conference with my mom and dad. It was really fun to go for the second year in a row. In October, I visited my family again in Florida. I also got to go to a water park for a day, it was a ton of fun. In November, I visited Houghton University in upstate New York. It was one of the highlights of this year and I want to visit again soon. In December, my siblings came home from college and I have been spending a ton of time with them and enjoying our Christmas. It was an incredible year and I am excited for 2023.
Max
I spent several months of the year in college, in addition to several months working on my board game that I got a grant to produce last year. I spent 3 months on a new language project in the fall, and graduated from IWU with an associates degree in December. Concluding the year, I spent the holidays with my family and am planning with a friend to get an apartment in Indy starting in 2023!
Karina
January began my second semester of my freshmen year at IWU, where I also started working at the Indiana Wesleyan University Chapel Office as Marketing and Designer. I continued this job throughout the year and continue getting more responsibilities. In March I celebrated my 19th birthday, took a trip to visit my “medium” distance boyfriend, Luke, at Indiana University and started to wrap up the semester. Over the summer I took two summer classes, worked on my content creating and influencing job, and spent time with Luke and my family. This year I really found a passion for weightlifting and working out. In July, I took a trip to Chicago with three of my friends. In August, my family, Luke, and I took a trip to Kings Island. At the beginning of my sophomore/junior year in late August I had a full week of extensive training for my Chapel Office job. I met many of my now closest friends here. My best friend is my roommate Ella and I also have made several friends in the art and design department of Indiana Wesleyan. I spend my days at college working hard, in class, having meals with friends, at coffee shops, or at the gym. I also played intramural volleyball and often went rock climbing! My major is Design for Social Impact and have been taking very specialized classes that provide me skills for interior designing in my future. I continue to have some issues with my health and my condition called Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia syndrome, however my treatment plan and medicine have helped me get through. It was a great year of growth, friendships, and finding my passions and I am excited to begin 2023!
Dave
2022 included a big shift for me as I began working with the Global Partners (GP) resource team to give more leadership to the work of the Global Marketplace Multipliers initiative which serves Christians who work in the marketplace who are also engaged in disciple-making internationally. I already knew almost every team member in the GP staff personally (some I've done life with for years) and most of those serving around the world at some level, so it's been a great relational fit with passionate and hard working people I trust who care about the world in ways that really honor God and diverse peoples. I closed out most of my consulting and coaching contracts from when I was working independently by June, although I still do a little bit of that on the side but not much anymore due to time. When it comes to writing, I took a detour for five months into academic writing in the winter and spring of 2022, and also did a big chunk of writing for another book as a hobby early in the mornings before the sun gets up. Almost no one has seen any of the above reams of writing, and maybe nobody ever will. These personal projects were interesting fit the bucket list category and remain a bit more experimental as I learned some about those kinds of writing which differ so much from the dozen books I already wrote. I wrote when I felt like it for my website and my substack. If you missed those the back catalog is at those links. Our house was quiet most of 2022 with only one kid at home, and now Lauren can drive and has a job and social life so Kathy and I are adapting to this kind of "empty nest preseason" era and doing a lot more time just the two of us, including some two-player board and card games--which is fine with us most every day, although we love and miss the kids for sure, we love each other even more!
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