A Meek Perspective: Merry Christmas 2014

Greetings to our dear friends and family,

2014 is winding down fast. Like last year, we can’t believe its time to share another letter with some updates for our family. 2014 was another busy year with lots of changes for our family that we look forward to sharing.

Joseph is continuing his career path with the Army passing the 2-year anniversary mark on Sept 24. He made it through his first winter in Alaska for his duty station at Fort Wainwright. He made a trip back to Alabama in late May for the wedding of two former HS Classmates. Our “bucket list” trip to Alaska did not materialize due to some changes in Joseph’s schedule with field exercises this summer. Joseph made a second trip to Alabama in November for a short visit. During that visit, we were able to meet his wife, Yvonne. We welcome her to our family with every ounce of love in our hearts and wish them a lifetime of happiness. Yvonne is currently attending the University of Fairbanks as a Biology major. She plans to continue her studies in the medical field after graduation.

Judy enjoyed some antique furniture refinishing projects from auction and antique store finds. She “tried” a short stint in a corporate accounting environment with a local hospital but quickly got that out of her system when overtime became the norm. Thankfully, she was able to return to the small accounting firm she has been with since 2007. Her role at Leigh King & Associates has changed to include assisting with audits.

2014 had some major changes for Charlie as well. After 8 years of serving the Hawk Pride Church of Christ, Charlie resigned as their Minister. Then a new door opened for Ministry in May. Under the leadership of the Sherrod Avenue Church of Christ, he now serves as the minister at a long-term care and rehab center each Sunday morning. In late July, Charlie transitioned from part-time employment to full-time with the Northwest AL RC&D Council as their Executive Director. Over abundant rain, overfull work schedules and back issues made part-time farming an even greater challenge so we reduced our sheep numbers to hopefully simplify things this winter. We are truly honored that demand for our lambs has never been stronger so the less supply and strong demand has been a good problem. Charlie is ending the year with some health struggles and we are girding up to face them with determination and faith.

Charlie and Judy enjoyed a short fall vacation to Burkes Garden, VA and viewed some historic farmland owned by the Charles Marvin Meek estate. Not sure of any kinship but it was an honor to find another Meek family tied to the land and agriculture. Judy checked off a bucket list item hiking a minute portion of the Appalachian Trail near Groseclose, VA. Charlie tagged along as best he could! We made a swing home via Asheville, NC to visit the Biltmore House. Biltmore was quite the opposite of the first leg of our trip but it was good to learn the history of the Vanderbilt family and see the farm still involved in active crop and livestock production.