Holy Cow! Its February and this is the first update I’ve sent for the New Year! I think we need a vacation! Thankfully we leave for one in two days!
Annabelle and I have been going strong as usual. She is enjoying swimming, ballet/tap, gymnastics, Japanese lessons, AWANA, and story time. We have decided to join Classical Conversations for school next year and even tried it out a couple of weeks ago. She really enjoyed it. We’ve also received her reading and writing curriculum in the mail and it looks like it will be fun as well. I only tell you this because Im in denial that she is growing up this fast. Where has time gone?
Barrett is working hard at the chapel and beyond. Grace Hill Church is growing and we are so thankful for the people that give it a face and personality. The various ages and stages of lives gives it a depth that encourages each person to grow in Christ. Its still difficult to see our new family leave as the military gives them orders, but we are so thankful for the time that we have with each one while they are here. We have been here long enough now that almost all of the people that we knew when we arrived have left the island. Oh how I miss the friends that have taken some of me with them, but the Lord has been gracious to continually bring like-minded souls in my life.
Just recently, Facebook has given me a time warp of 20 years. Friends from my Word of Life Days added me to their nostalgic page and I was able to chat with friends that have slipped my mind for a generation. Now we are married, have kids, and have various lives. It has made me work through some major life events over again. Good feelings and bad. I’ve been pondering the sovereignty of God over my lives and my friends. How He has given us our own journey into the men and women that we have become. How He has used our trials and turned them into gold. I remember how much I desired to be liked and to possibly find a husband there only to remain single for another 10 years or so. Oh how much I learned about my Comforter, Healer, Provider, and Savior in those years. How He helped me work through my thoughts of failure, people pleasing, and perfectionism.
Our journey’s have all been different, but our Lord has been True. He is conforming us to Christ and teaching us more of Him each day. I am so thankful for the people the Lord has brought in my life. Each one has affected me and helped me become who I am today…the good and the bad! Ha! So as the faces of my life continue to turn and change, I desire to be thankful for each one. I’m especially thankful for the ones that wake up with me each day…even though he and I are getting more wrinkles and she is growing up only to move away. So thank each one of you for joining us on our journey and adding beauty along the way.