Un-slumping

I can't believe it's the 27th of January!
Twenty-six days in 2011 have passed and the 27th is quickly drawing to a close.
I wish I could tell you that a lot of exciting things have happened since the beginning of January.
But the only thing that has happened in our daily life.
I really like our daily life, so it's been nice to just "do life."

John Owen is becoming his own little man. He's much more like a little boy than a baby.
He still likes to snuggle every now and then, but he doesn't like me to just sit and hold him.
This is sad to me and exciting at the same time.
He's such a busy little person, always into this or that.

I've learned a few things in the twenty-six days that have passed in 2011.
First, that God wants me to always trust in Him, not just when really bad things happen to me.
I'm a "fixer" and a "planner". Maybe you are too. But I like to order things in my life and home and I like for them to work out neatly and nicely with no frayed edges or loose ends.

If my life was always neat and tidy, I'd never get sanctified. I'd never grow.

So, I'm learning to trust Him in ALL things.

Sunday will be January 30th--four months since Ella Grace was here and then gone.
We are actually nearing her due date--February 23rd.
I will confess that in my humanness, I am feeling weak and SAD.

Sometimes I wonder what I'd be doing with time if the word anencephaly had never been said, if she'd lived. Then if I "wonder" too long, I find myself in a slump. It's not a fun place to be.
BUT! I can happily say that the Word of God is the greatest un-slumping tool I've ever come across.
Therefore, I use it daily. I hope you do too!
I have to include these lines from Dr. Seuss's Oh the Places You'll Go! I think it describes it best!

I'm sorry to say so

but, sadly, it's true

that Bang-ups

and Hang-ups

can happen to you.

You can get all hung up

in a prickle-ly perch.

And your gang will fly on.

You'll be left in a Lurch.

You'll come down from the Lurch

with an unpleasant bump.

And the chances are, then,

that you'll be in a Slump.

And when you're in a Slump,

you're not in for much fun.

Un-slumping yourself

is not easily done.

But I can't leave you without sharing my hope:

Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary. Is. 40:31

This Thing Called Love

Today I have to write about the man--not just any man, but MY man!

It's our four year anniversary and sometimes it seems like just yesterday we got married and sometimes it seems like we've been together forever.

This morning we traveled down memory lane and reviewed our first four years together.
Not all of them have been pretty, I'm a little ashamed to say.

It was still pretty neat to reflect back and realize just how far we'd come, how much we've grown as people and as Christians.

I remember the day we got married and I never would have thought we would be beginning 2011 with the experiences that we have.

We have so much to be thankful for.

But I'm especially thankful for my husband who is a lot of things I'm not (this can be a source of frustration sometimes), but who is what I need.

I'm very glad to have him to walk this journey with. I wouldn't want to walk it with anyone else.

Goodbye 2010!

I was glad---no ecstatic to say goodbye to 2010!
It brings me one year closer to Jesus' return.
It brings me a fresh start.
It brings closure to a year of sorrow, joy, and Grace.

That's how I'd sum up my 2010--the year of Grace.

Now to focus on 2011.

I hope I grow more.
I hope we add to our family or at least start the process.
I hope people in our youth group and church come to know Christ as their savior.
I hope...
I hope to write a book.
I hope to take a lot more pictures and maybe start my own photography business.
I hope I read--a lot.
And cook a lot.

And most of all, I hope I glorify Christ even more this year than I ever have.

But I can't do it without His Grace.
So maybe 2011 will be another year of Grace.
That's not so bad.