We’re the Freunds - Joe, Kristin, and Caroline (11 months). Our three-year-old pug, Winnie, is very much part of the family, but not pictured here. Joe works in finance and Kristin is an OB-GYN. Caroline is a full-time baby. Joe joined CSMSG in 2012. Kristin and Joe met in 2014 when Kristin started attending as well. We were married at the Church of St. Michael & St. George in August of 2017. Joe was raised Episcopalian at St. Stephen’s in Ferguson and attended various Episcopal churches since college graduation. After attending several services at CSMSG he was so impressed with the liturgy, music, and young adults group that he decided to join. Kristin, though raised Baptist and not familiar with the Episcopal ways, immediately felt belonging and could tell CSMSG was a place of community. As a couple, we have found fellowship and a space to grow our faith as a family.
For us, the first few months of 2020 were spent sheltered-in-place (before sheltering-in-place was cool). We were still trying to adjust to being a family of three while Kristin was preparing for her big board certification exam at the end of February. After receiving word that she passed the test, we were looking forward to life without the big test looming. We had a long list of plans we’d been sitting on and putting off - meeting up with old friends, dining out, and outings with Caroline to show her the sights we love in St. Louis. Well, then of course, God had other plans. March/April/May found us continuing to shelter - now joined by the rest of the world. Work was slow, daycare was closed, everything was uncertain and it truly seemed like survival mode. In recent months, we’ve moved forward to our new (hopefully temporary) normal. We, like so many others we’ve heard from, have enjoyed the slower pace and the time spent at home. With fewer outside distractions, we’ve had the benefit of quality family time with Caroline during a time of her life that we know we’ll always want back. Things at our house are simple - meal kits and dinners on our deck, bubbles and tree swings in the back yard, snuggles and rocking Caroline to sleep every night. But we’re savoring the simplicity and look forward to coming out the other side of the pandemic mindful of what it has given us, despite what it has taken away.
We miss the regular in-person, non-physical distancing services of our Church, volunteering at Gateway 180 with our fellow parishioners, and catching up in the Great Hall. However, our faith has shown us that God always provides for us.
Joe and Kristen
