Hello 2014: Reflection on 2013

Today, I looked at my reflections from 2012.  2012 was a year of pain and growth and 2013 was a
 year of blessings and recovery.  I can't wait to see what 2014 has in store for us.

 

Anne at 5 weeks with a beautiful heartbeat.

Anne at 12 weeks outside.  We love her so much.

• Anne was definitely the biggest development of 2013.  The first weekend of February, Steve and I found out that Anne was on the way.  We were overjoyed and terrified.  Two weeks later, we heard a heartbeat, her heartbeat, for the first time.  For the next 8 months, I felt her grow and develop inside me.  We celebrated every milestone with excitement.

•  Our Wycliffe ministry continued to grow in 2013.  We love being a part of such an important ministry.  We are a part of ending Bible poverty around the world.  There is still so much more work that needs to be done.
• Steve and I celebrated our 6th wedding Anniversary on May 5th.  I love Steve more and more every day.  He is a great husband and father.

• My sister got married on May 25th and was privileged to be the Matron of Honor.
• On October 9th at 2am, my water broke and we headed to the hospital.  At 4:17pm, our beautiful rainbow entered our world.  She is perfect in every way.  We have loved watching her grow and learn new things.  Today, she is 12 weeks old.

Year In Review: 2011

Goals for 2011

I can't believe that 2011 is over already. I can't wait to see what adventures God has in store for us this year. I suspect that our lives will change a lot this year with starting Wycliffe training, getting our house ready to sell, and preparing to maybe move down to Texas. There is so much up in the air when it comes to a time line. I'm trusting that God has it all in control.

We actually paid off about off more debt than we did last year, so we did make our financial goal. I didn't think that we would with all the pay cuts. We have leave the credit up to God, because we did not do it on our own. God has really provided for us this year. I could not be happier with the way things are right now.

The year started out with us remodeling our bathroom. It looks really nice. Steve did a really nice job. We replaced the last two windows in the house this year too. That was basically all the major work we did on the house this year. In February, it got a little stressful in our house when I lost my job at the mall Sears. We scrambled to adjust our budget while I looked for another part time job. God provided me with another job at the new Sears Hometown Store the next week. Then Steve transfered down from the Electronics Department to the Hardware Department. That was a huge blessing, because Hardware does quite a bit more business than Electronics. So when the YWCA cut his hours back again this summer it was easy for him to work for hours at Sears and make up the loss in income. In the Spring, we took a trip to Tulsa to visit my best friend and her family. It was an eventful trip. I was happy with my Lizzy and her parents though. That part was a good part of the trip.

Steve and I celebrated our 4th Anniversary. I'm looking forward to another 80 more. Before we even got married, I knew that he wanted to work with Wycliffe and do Bible translation. This June, we got to the point financially where we could start the application process. I didn't realize how long of an application process it was going to be. In November, we were finally accepted as members and now the process continues. We have to find a place to serve and wait for that country to send us an invitation. We have been in talks with both Chad and Cameroon in Africa.

My sis and I turned 30 this year. I'm looking forward to what the next decade has in store. We had another baby boom in our family this year. Two of my cousins had kids this summer. For my cousin Joe and his wife, it was there first son. Little Chris is an absolute cutie. My cousin Pete, his wife Gina, and their son, Isaac welcomed a little brother named Eric. He is a cutie too. So far, I have three little "second cousins" and they are all boys. Our family needs some little girls. Steve's family grew too. His mom decided to adopt a baby this year to help out one of her students. Her name is Julienne and she is precious. I know it might sound crazy, but I think that little girl is going to be blessed. God pulled her out of a life of generational poverty and put her into a huge loving family. God has a special plan for her.

We were blessed beyond belief this year. I am so thankful for the amazing friends and family that we have. I'm so looking forward to great adventures 2012 will have in store for us.

Happy Fiscal New Year!

Today is our Fiscal New Year!  Since we get paid every other week our paychecks don't line up with a traditional month.  At the beginning of every year, I map out and label each check with either "Check 1," "Check 2," or "Extra Check."  This year our "Check 2" of December landed on December 8th, so that means the checks we got today are the first check on January.  So HAPPY NEW YEAR to us!
Now that mean it's time for us to have our year budget committee meeting and see how we did for the year.  I think we were incredibly blessed this year.