"Leave the Irreparable Past in God's hands, and step out into the Irresistible Future with Him."
-Oswald Chambers
It's hard to believe another year has come and gone. As a child, I remember hearing while growing up "Just wait until you get older, time will fly by!" That very statement becomes more of a reality every year that passes. Each end of December as a "new year" is about to begin, I experience both highs and lows as I reflect back. Sometimes I'm excited to embrace the new year ahead full of unknowns and yet so often find myself thankful that I can say "goodbye" to the more difficult moments experienced in that year.
For anyone who knows our family personally, you will know that 2013 was a year that if I'm honest, many of our family members were probably ready to see certain chapters close and were looking forward with anxious anticipation to embrace a new chapter that God will write in 2014. It's not that we look back on 2013 with a negative mindset or that there weren't good moments, but I'd been lying if I didn't say that there were some very hard moments. There were moments that we put on a smile even when things felt as though they were spiraling out of control, moments when crying just felt like it might make it better, and moments where prayer was the only way to push through. Yet even in the hard moments we are able to cling tightly to the truth that, "...all things work together for good, to those who love God and are called according to His purpose." It is through the valleys, that we come to admire the mountaintops and it is through the pain that we can truly appreciate the blessings that Christ alone can bring. Certainly I realize there are many who likely experienced far greater pain or trials than we ever did, but if I could give a word to 2013 it would best be summed up with the word "Waiting"- waiting on God to fully understand what He was doing in both our lives and the lives of others in our family.
I'm certainly not one to believe in superstitions or anything of that sort, but I must admit if I thought there was any truth to the number "13" being an unlucky number, after 2013 I'd probably be easier to win over on that theory. ( not really- but play along with me if you will) Though there were still some tough moments as the year ended, I am happy to say that as you'll see in this post, God also brought about some sweet surprise blessings to end out 2013.
As a general recap of 2013, we've walked a road both together and with members of our family where in some darker moments God had to show Himself more real than ever before to both us and to many of our family members. For us, 2013 began with family members living with us for several months, some personal challenges in our siblings lives on both sides of the family, family members working through addictions, my grandmother's stroke which led to us having to move her from her home and relocate her, the death of both Nate's and one of my grandmas, medical testing and illness for most of the year that was unexplained, my parents following God's call to a new area of ministry with prisons and leaving a wonderful church where my dad has pastored for almost 25 years, and a slight slow down in our adoption process from China.
The end of the year capped off with my sweet grandma who we moved this summer, falling right before Christmas week and breaking a finger and a bone in her face and being extremely bruised right along with some other difficult news regarding several family members. However, to add a little humor and to top off the year, some Christmas presents a few days after Christmas were stolen. (I had to add that one in there because we laugh now, but the Christmas present fiasco was just icing on the cake to round out the year, so to speak, and give us something to laugh about--haha!. Hopefully those who stole them needed them more than anyone in our family did, right?)
Before you jump to conclusions and want to stop reading because you think this is all going in a negative direction, let me say that we learned much during this year in our lives and how to truly intercede for others. We learned to 'wait' when we didn't understand why doctors didn't have answers. We learned to 'wait' when God's timing wasn't in line with that "our desired timing" would have been in a number of situations. We learned to 'wait' when God wasn't opening doors or giving our family members answers as quickly as they had hoped. We learned to 'wait' when family members had difficult moments that only God could see them through and we couldn't help them in any way except through prayer. We learned to 'wait' and trust God to take care of every situation both we and our family faced that only our powerful God could do.
Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage,And He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord! - Psalm 27:14
As we look back on this year, we are able to see how God was at work, even if there were moments where it seemed He was silent. Slowly, we began to see His hand move in a number of situations that we truly believe were the result of many prayers lifted up before our loving Father.
We'd like to recap through photos, some of the GREAT moments which kept us sane and were God's little "kisses" to let us know that He was still in control even when it certainly may not have always felt like it.
JANUARY
Leading up to January, we began helping our church establish
"The Village Project" in Guatemala.
In mid-January, we had the opportunity to take a team of 22 to Guatemala to serve in a rural village and with a local ministry, Hope of Life, serving the poorest
of the poor in the dump...
....working with orphans and children with special needs as well
as those plagued by malnutrition...
...loving on the elderly
... serving with VBS and a variety of ways in the village of Curva del Pino...
God encouraged us by being able to see two additional teams follow later that summer and fall and God has begun to do a great work in our church's rural "adopted village" in Guatemala as the village now has a local pastor, clean water, and a number of individuals in the village have come to know the Lord. We look forward to what 2014 will bring.
FEBRUARY
We "celebrated my birthday" (there might be just a wee bit of sarcasm inserted here) by starting to work on more adoption home study update paperwork and began completing fingerprint cards. By now you would think we should have at least earned "high level security clearances" with the number of types and times our fingerprints have been taken in the last 18 months and run through the FBI and Immigration office.
MARCH
We were fingerprinted again for our adoption home study update.
APRIL
Winter passed and spring arrived and we attended the Japanese Cherry Blossom Festival in DC where we were able to enjoy the beauty of spring and learn more about Japan's culture through cultural dances, music, martial arts, and of course- FOOD!
MAY
We said goodbye to "Grandma's house" where so many family memories were made and began the process of going through her belongings and getting her moved closer to my parents.
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| Hundreds of Chinese Checkers Games were played at their home |
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| Grandpa's Hat |
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| The croquet set would come out every holiday- though I'm not sure where that tradition got started! |
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| Grandpa's tools |
MAY
We celebrated Nate's birthday and then Mother's Day with his brothers...
Then later that month made a purchase that was definitely a first since we've been married...A crib!
JUNE
We celebrated Father's Day, then took a vacation to California and Washington state. First stop- San Francisco...
We celebrated Father's Day, then took a vacation to California and Washington state. First stop- San Francisco...
and you can't visit San Franscisco without visiting one of the largest China towns in the world outside of China...
We were amazed by the Redwood Forest...
Headed down the coast to Big Sur and Carmel, California...
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| Enjoyed the purple sand at this beach |
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| Claimed this as "our spot" in CA |
Drove through Pebble Beach...
And of course, when you're married to a "coffee addict" no trip is complete without finding somewhere to try the local coffee...
Then it was off to Seattle...
There's nothing like Pike Place Market and the flying fish...
(and yes, these are all real fish)
Visited the first Starbucks located in Pike Place Market...
I may (or may not) have just set up my own little "merchandise shot" below...
We stopped in to see the Yankees play the Mariners at Safeco Field and watched one of the World Cup Qualifier Games between the U.S. and Panama at Centurylink Field...the energy at the World Cup game was unbelievable!
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| Gotta' love the free soccer scarves! |
and you can't visit new cities without going to see something random...for us this was the famous Market Theatre "gum wall" in Seattle inside the marketplace...
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| "Stuck on You" |
and this is where Nate stood while I shot a few more pictures of this place...he wanted to stay as far away from the gum wall as possible.
and our last stop- Mt. Rainier...
Since we didn't have room to bring our avalanche gear with us to Washington state,
we opted out of the hike...
Then later in June, Nate's grandma passed away. She will be missed.
JULY
During July we celebrated Grandma J's 81st birthday...
We also spent as much time as we could with Grandma A as she fought her final days with Alzheimer's and went home to be with the Lord on July 29th...
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| Grandma & My Brother |
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| My Grandma & Parents |
My parents also held their last service as pastor of CBC which was both a sweet time, but also a very emotional/difficult time for them and our family after being in pastoral ministry for almost 40 years. Yet, when God calls and leads, they've learned to follow and are now ministering in prisons throughout the state. As anyone who has worked in ministry knows, it's always hard for any pastor and his wife to say "goodbye" to what's familiar, comfortable, as well as to sweet friends to take on a new role of ministry. Many prayers were prayed for both the church they left, God's leading, and their new ministry and I've never been more proud of my dad's final sermon at CBC to "the church" as they were challenged to follow God's leading. It was a beautiful and inspiring service and a true testament to my dad's faithful ministry as a pastor.
AUGUST
AUGUST
We had a celebration service for Grandma on August 1st & were amazed at all the beautiful stories of her life that were shared along with sweet notes her caregivers left. If you know anything about Grandma A, you will understand the Pringles and Oreos.
The rest of August we enjoyed time with family in from Texas along with picnics, warm weather, fresh peaches, peach donuts and frozen cider from the peach orchard...
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| Yes we ate donuts- don't judge |
September
We welcomed a beautiful fall...
OCTOBER
During September and October we continued having more serious conversations about baby names and began working on a large number of nursery projects. (more will posted on this soon) Then, we had a surprise later in October when my sister announced to us (though it wasn't public until December) that they were expecting their first child- so Nate and I will be an aunt and uncle for the first time in June of this year! Here is sneak peek at the Christmas ornament by brother-in-law bought my parents-- do you think he's hoping for a boy? We will find out in a few weeks.
After losing our sweet grandma this year, this was such wonderful news for our family to be able to look forward to in 2014...so not only will our families be welcoming a little one in Texas this June, but we should also be welcoming another little one from China sometime in 2014 as well. I think our parents are all getting just a wee bit excited about what's to come later in 2014.
November
Thanksgiving came and we were able to have both of our families join together (those able to make it in) and enjoy the day. We also learned in November, that the assisted living home where my grandmother had lived is building a new section and have decided to name this part of the facility after her in honor of her memory. It was very touching to learn how much she impacted the residents and staff there and we were blessed to learn about this towards the end of the year.
After Thanksgiving, we went to help my Grandma J decorate her tree and home as she's a bit limited in what she can do now. We were able to get her to hang at least a few ornaments and help us decorate a little. :)
DECEMBER
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| This is the face Nate makes when he doesn't want his photo taken |
"...But one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those which are ahead; I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."
Philippians 3:13-14
From our home to yours, we wish each of you a happy 2014
--even though it's a few days late!
Philippians 3:13-14
From our home to yours, we wish each of you a happy 2014
--even though it's a few days late!
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