(I recommend starting at January. It reads better!)
December – Thank you God for revealing yourself to us. Thank you for friends with which to share this life. Thank you for your bountiful goodness and passionate pursuit of us. Yes, you are worth it!
November – Tim turns 40! How did that happen? Thank you God for an awesome husband that has clung to you through sickness & health, plenty & want. You are truly the source of his strength.
October – Ian turned 2! Look out world, here he comes! Thank you God for life! Thank you for saving me and letting me watch my children grow up in You! Without you, God, it’s all pointless.
September - Ian fell out of the camper on our annual Labor Day camping trip on Mt. Hood. He broke his arm. Cute little trooper in his tiny cast. Thank you God for giving me the insight to ask the doctors enough questions to find the break in his arm. Darby started Kindergarten & is LOVING it! Thank you God for kids that love school & for awesome teachers that are a light in a dark place.
August – The wedding season is in full swing! Darby got to be a flower girl in the wedding of one of my flower girls! My how time flies! Thank you God for friends that are like family!
July – Tim & Shannan got a day away alone before the wedding craziness begins! Thank you God for friends that love my kids!
June – Is this garden ever going to grow? Will the rain ever stop? Thank you God for a well-below average water bill this year!
May - Darby turned 5 and began losing teeth. Thank you God they are currently coming in straight! Tim & I celebrated 17 years of marriage and filed bankruptcy all in the same day. Thank you God that your love never changes no matter the circumstances.
April – Darby became a follower of Christ! Thank you God for tender hearts that love You!
March –Darby fell and got stitches in her forehead. Thank you God for health insurance!
February – Tim started his new job with Access Health Centers. Thank you God for a steady income!
January – Sleepless in Portland! I don’t remember much. I did continue roasting my own coffee; an act of economizing that has turned out to be so fun and the BEST coffee! I need coffee and I love coffee! Thank you God for Coffee!
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Friday, December 24, 2010
“In Everything Give Thanks!”
A few years ago, I was Christmas shopping with a friend and told her I would love to have a wall-mounted coat rack with “In Everything Give thanks” inscribed on it, but really had no idea how to do it. Well, that year for Christmas I received the most beautiful hand sanded, painted & inscribed wall-mount coat rack with this written on it. What an incredible gift! What an incredible friend!
Little did I know that we were going to get a chance to make this scripture practical in our daily lives like never before.
I got pregnant early in 2008. Hooray, that was something easy for which to be thankful! The year and the pregnancy progressed quite uneventfully. The delivery was quick and uncomplicated until I began to hemorrhage so badly that it could not be stopped. I was rushed to ER where I was miraculously kept alive. After 10 days in the hospital recovering from post-partum pre-eclampsia with DIC (when your blood cells explode rather than coagulate) & acute kidney failure, it was difficult to give thanks, but we did! I was miraculously alive, and I had a beautiful son (Ian Timothy) who was perfect in every way!
We were so thankful for God’s provision and saw His hand in every moment of my life those early days of recovery. We were in awe to see how God orchestrated the ambulance, the ‘round the clock help at home, the fast acting midwives and ER workers. The many nursing moms who donated milk for Ian, my miraculous ability to still nurse part time, even while having kidney dialysis every 2-3 days for the first month. It was easy to give thanks because I could do nothing else. I was so helpless, that all I could do was see God work around me and be amazed at His love for me, and my family and his desire to use those around me to bless me, and others by this life changing event.
As the winter wore on, hospital bills were astronomical, but God, who is the creator of the Universe, provided a way for all the hospital bills to be paid. We saw bills for well over $60,000 for my time in the hospital. There were bills we never even saw because they were paid, or “taken care of” as I was often told on the phone, before there was a need to send a statement. Thank you God, you know our every need. Well all that was 2008! We had a quiet family Christmas being thankful for the generosity of others and the bounty of God’s love for us.
As the sleepless nights began taking their toll, like they always do for parents of newborns and toddlers, we started 2009 in a fog. By the end of the year, I was exhausted from the long recovery process I was in as well as taking care of 2 kiddos that are full of energy & prefer to be awake rather than asleep. Tim was doing everything possible to keep his business alive, but it soon became clear that the economy was going to get the best of us. It was time to think of moving on. After a number of interviews, Tim was hired at another chiropractor’s office and we were able to move forward with closing his office. He began work in February 2010. What a difficult transition for all of us. Even though Tim was working and that relieved some stress, there was still a mountain of uphill climbing to close his business. It became clear that the only way was to file bankruptcy.
In May, we celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary. It was bitter sweet, because that same day we also finalized our bankruptcy proceedings. We were thankful for the clean slate to begin again, but we were emotionally in shock over what had happened in the last 18 months.
After shaking it out a bit, we again saw ourselves holding onto the truth that God is a great God! He desires us to be thankful and glorify Him in all things. He is there, not to save us from the circumstances of life, but to lovingly guide and protect us through them as we seek to follow Him. “In everything give thanks”, still rang true. It became my mantra. It brought comfort and peace knowing that if I have breath, I must praise God! I don’t think it means we have to have a smile pasted on our face. God desires honesty. We can’t fool him anyhow! But he does want us to lay it all at his feet, so our arms are so empty that there is only room to embrace Him and what He has for us.
We have been transformed. Tim & I are enjoying a strong marriage that has been a foundation to stand on as we navigate this life together. We have experienced firsthand ‘when one is weak, the other is strong”. God is so good! So passionate about his children! So excited when we succeed in His economy! So blessed when we give all praise and honor and glory to Him.
We have suffered. Maybe not as much as others we know who have encountered similar circumstances. But we have made a conscious choice to give thanks! So this year has had its ups & downs. High points and low points. But they all point to God’s unfailing, constant, passionate love for us.
We hope that regardless of life’s circumstances this year that you too are able to give all glory and honor to the Creator of All Things. He is worthy to be praised!
Blessings from us to you for 2011. May God’s glory be revealed in your life this year!
Little did I know that we were going to get a chance to make this scripture practical in our daily lives like never before.
I got pregnant early in 2008. Hooray, that was something easy for which to be thankful! The year and the pregnancy progressed quite uneventfully. The delivery was quick and uncomplicated until I began to hemorrhage so badly that it could not be stopped. I was rushed to ER where I was miraculously kept alive. After 10 days in the hospital recovering from post-partum pre-eclampsia with DIC (when your blood cells explode rather than coagulate) & acute kidney failure, it was difficult to give thanks, but we did! I was miraculously alive, and I had a beautiful son (Ian Timothy) who was perfect in every way!
We were so thankful for God’s provision and saw His hand in every moment of my life those early days of recovery. We were in awe to see how God orchestrated the ambulance, the ‘round the clock help at home, the fast acting midwives and ER workers. The many nursing moms who donated milk for Ian, my miraculous ability to still nurse part time, even while having kidney dialysis every 2-3 days for the first month. It was easy to give thanks because I could do nothing else. I was so helpless, that all I could do was see God work around me and be amazed at His love for me, and my family and his desire to use those around me to bless me, and others by this life changing event.
As the winter wore on, hospital bills were astronomical, but God, who is the creator of the Universe, provided a way for all the hospital bills to be paid. We saw bills for well over $60,000 for my time in the hospital. There were bills we never even saw because they were paid, or “taken care of” as I was often told on the phone, before there was a need to send a statement. Thank you God, you know our every need. Well all that was 2008! We had a quiet family Christmas being thankful for the generosity of others and the bounty of God’s love for us.
As the sleepless nights began taking their toll, like they always do for parents of newborns and toddlers, we started 2009 in a fog. By the end of the year, I was exhausted from the long recovery process I was in as well as taking care of 2 kiddos that are full of energy & prefer to be awake rather than asleep. Tim was doing everything possible to keep his business alive, but it soon became clear that the economy was going to get the best of us. It was time to think of moving on. After a number of interviews, Tim was hired at another chiropractor’s office and we were able to move forward with closing his office. He began work in February 2010. What a difficult transition for all of us. Even though Tim was working and that relieved some stress, there was still a mountain of uphill climbing to close his business. It became clear that the only way was to file bankruptcy.
In May, we celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary. It was bitter sweet, because that same day we also finalized our bankruptcy proceedings. We were thankful for the clean slate to begin again, but we were emotionally in shock over what had happened in the last 18 months.
After shaking it out a bit, we again saw ourselves holding onto the truth that God is a great God! He desires us to be thankful and glorify Him in all things. He is there, not to save us from the circumstances of life, but to lovingly guide and protect us through them as we seek to follow Him. “In everything give thanks”, still rang true. It became my mantra. It brought comfort and peace knowing that if I have breath, I must praise God! I don’t think it means we have to have a smile pasted on our face. God desires honesty. We can’t fool him anyhow! But he does want us to lay it all at his feet, so our arms are so empty that there is only room to embrace Him and what He has for us.
We have been transformed. Tim & I are enjoying a strong marriage that has been a foundation to stand on as we navigate this life together. We have experienced firsthand ‘when one is weak, the other is strong”. God is so good! So passionate about his children! So excited when we succeed in His economy! So blessed when we give all praise and honor and glory to Him.
We have suffered. Maybe not as much as others we know who have encountered similar circumstances. But we have made a conscious choice to give thanks! So this year has had its ups & downs. High points and low points. But they all point to God’s unfailing, constant, passionate love for us.
We hope that regardless of life’s circumstances this year that you too are able to give all glory and honor to the Creator of All Things. He is worthy to be praised!
Blessings from us to you for 2011. May God’s glory be revealed in your life this year!
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Milestones & Musings
Well, I finally made it to the blog-o-sphere! After finally getting my life to a somewhat manageable level of chaos, I realized that I was quickly missing out on capturing some of the monumental moments in our family's life. The last 2 1/2 years have been a whirlwind. From what others say, it's not gonna slow down, so, it's time to start enjoying the ride through life. I want to capture the milestones in my life & my family's as well as all the funny, annoying and amusing things of life.
So, here is the first. You know you're getting old when...
Darby came home from school today and told me that 2 kids at her table were singing "We will, we will Rock you!" (Sang perfectly while holding up her fingers in the universal I-love-you-sign). I snickered - feeling a bit old, but not letting on. Then I asked her if she new what that meant. Se said, "well, I think it means that they are going to throw rocks at you!" "Good point," I said, "but probably not something we should do, right? "Yeah," she said, " I think we should change the song to " We will, we will resc-ue." That's much nicer! I snickered again. The gears of heavy metal just came to a screeching halt!
As always with in moments, both kids were trotting around the house with "i-love-you-signs raised, singing "We will, we will resc-ue". Heavy metal at it's best! I gotta dig up the real song for them some day. Then, they'll be the ones laughing!
So, here is the first. You know you're getting old when...
Darby came home from school today and told me that 2 kids at her table were singing "We will, we will Rock you!" (Sang perfectly while holding up her fingers in the universal I-love-you-sign). I snickered - feeling a bit old, but not letting on. Then I asked her if she new what that meant. Se said, "well, I think it means that they are going to throw rocks at you!" "Good point," I said, "but probably not something we should do, right? "Yeah," she said, " I think we should change the song to " We will, we will resc-ue." That's much nicer! I snickered again. The gears of heavy metal just came to a screeching halt!
As always with in moments, both kids were trotting around the house with "i-love-you-signs raised, singing "We will, we will resc-ue". Heavy metal at it's best! I gotta dig up the real song for them some day. Then, they'll be the ones laughing!
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