2010 Reflecting Back a Decade

Not only are we saying goodbye to 2010 but we are saying goodbye to the last decade and hello to another new decade. I remember the Y2K scare that made many people I know change plans or stock up on food and generators over the fear of what would happened to our highly sophisticated world we live in by being so dependent upon computers. I could argue today may be even more alarming when we look ahead to what future holds for our country's economic outlook may be.

Ok, Ok, enough of the gloom....that is not why I write today. I write today as a I feel so grateful for all the blessings the Lord has blessed us with these past ten years and all the wonderful adventures he continues to bring us on.

Top 10 in the last 10 years......

1. John and I celebrated 13 years of marriage this past summer. God has truly blessed me with a hand picked Godly man who loves me in ways I cannot even begin to comprehend sometimes. Some of the sweetest quotes from him recently....a cab driver asked us why we were on vacation in Hawaii, John replied, "so I can date my wife." Another, "I love you more than the day we were married, and I loved you a lot then", one I am still trying to figure out the meaning to or why..."why do you have to put on make-up and do your hair? You are one of those women who don't need makeup, you are beautiful without it." Fortunately he sees me more without it than with it! LOL! We are still each other's best friends and we still love being together and laugh a lot!

2. Year 2000 started off with a bang! No Y2K scare! We moved into our house we built and a few months later, we find out we were pregnant with Isaiah! He was truly the best pleasant surprise ever! God is so good! I can hardly believe he turned 10 in November! God has great plans for this child as you see through God's intricate embroidery he has so tenderly stitched in his heart. There is no greater joy than to see your son love and worship the Lord the way he does through music and the words of wisdom he says to me after reading His bible.

3. 2005...another miracle and gift from the Lord. Gabriella Grace! Again, all I can say is that God has mighty plans for this girl. Only God through his sovereignty and purpose is she here with us today. After finding out I lost her "twin" and that I was no longer pregnant, days later after a follow up ultrasound looking at my ovaries and seeing nothing in my uterus, the practitioner was just ending the scan and about to remove the probe when I said, "wait, what is that?" She responded, " I don't know, I think it is a blood clot from your surgery." I said "it looks like a heartbeat", she responded, "no, it is not, but if it is, it is too slow to be viable.". She barely made it alive out of my tummy and we were told during my pregnancy she didn't have a nasal bone which could mean a number of possible issues concerning her health. I could go on and on about the countless times in how God has proven himself to us and how he has a strong purpose in her life in these precious last 5 years. I am so excited to see what more He has in store for her and how she will bring Glory to God by doing what he has willed for her life.

4. 2008....another beautiful creation and gift from God. Isabella Grace. She is the sweetest little thing ever. She continues to bring us so much joy, love and laughter to our home, I cannot imagine our life without her. I think by being the baby and the third child you have to have some spunk in you. She has that and more! Thankfully she has a healthy portion of it and it brings balance to the family in more ways than one. I love watching her try new things and say new things. I am excited to see the plans God has for her as well. She adores her big brother and big sister and wants to do everything they want to do! Her most recent quotes have been..."Here you go mommy", (she hands me something in my hand), I look down and ask in disgust, "what is this", she says.."I don't know, it came from my nose". And then yesterday she had another bu gar in her nose that I tried getting out and she protested saying, "why do you do that?" I said, "what do you mean?", she says, "you keep taking things out of my nose and I don't like that."

5. We have been blessed to travel a lot over these past 10 years. Thank you to John's travel perks and his parents being so gracious with their timeshares. There is no way we would be able to do even a fraction of the traveling without those two perks! Some of our best trips recently....Hawaii, Washington D.C., New York City, Florida, South Carolina and South Dakota. The airline perks are great, but our most recent travels to South Carolina made me re-think if they are worth it after a 16+ hour commute....ahhh, yes they still are well worth it, even on those days that are that long. The kids thankfully are some of the best little travelers ever!

6. Family...we have become aunties and uncles to all of our family with all of our nieces and nephews who have been added to both sides of our family. It is so much fun to see how they have all grown these last years and how their relationship with each other as cousins grow and change.

7. Good Health...after having some years of just plain "weird" things health wise happen to me over the years, we are all so thankful and grateful for each day we are healthy! I had numerous surgeries and blood transfusions, but thankful that God brought us through those desert like times, oh so thirsty for His Living Water and for the Great Physicians healing touch. Gabriella also went through a weird escapade last summer where the doctors were puzzled at what was going on with her and started to give us to worry there could be something more serious than the flu. Through a constant faith and prayer, God healed her almost overnight!

8. Homeschooling...these past few years, God has laid it upon our hearts to homeschool. It has put our faith to the test in many ways, but out of obedience to the Lord we are seeing the fruit of it in more ways than one! Even to the point of feeling like I am redeeming an education I had no idea I even missed out on!

9. Fun Family Moments....from swimming with the kids, water and snow skiing with the kids, fires on the porch playing I spy, family game night, reading together as a family, morning snuggle times, family movie night all snuggled on the couch together eating popcorn to worshiping the Lord together around the piano or guitar as John and Isaiah play praise and worship songs. These are all moments in life that I would not trade for anything.

10. God...my relationship with Him has changed and strengthened over these past 10 years. I am so thankful for the journey he has me on. Through studying His word and gaining insight and knowledge of Him in ways I didn't even know were possible, I can truly say God is good. He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. I am excited to see how my relationship with Him will strengthen even more and I hope that I will be able to serve Him in ways that I know he has destined for me to serve in. Still waiting for my little ones to grow a bit more! :) But I am willing!