100th Post!

It's Christmas Eve, and my 100th post! I suppose it's a good time to reflect on these past few years that I've been blogging. I started up this blog right after Nate was born as a way to post pictures and updates on our new little one, because our internet was too slow to send pictures to far away friends and family via email. I'm thankful for this way of keeping record of major events and general happenings in our lives; I'm not a journaler (is that a word?), nor did I manage to keep any sort of baby book for Nate or Cody, so this is it!

Nathan was a wonderful surprise, as was Cody. But as a person who tries desperately to live a life completely planned, safe and predictable (sounds boring, I know!) both surprises threw at me major curve balls. We can predict and schedule our lives all we want, but in the end all we end up doing is making adjustments to our tidy little plans and going with the flow. We really have no control at all. And as I'm sitting here now, doing a little reflecting, it's hitting me that I needed to learn to let go. And being thrown into parenthood, with very little financial security or long-term plan for the future in terms of working, housing, etc. has taught me first-hand how to trust in God. This blog is way of keeping record of those invaluable life lessons so I can look back and remember how He has loved and cared for my family and I.

We've dealt with stress over money matters, real estate decisions, and job outlooks. I've faced serious anxiety over loving my family so much that the thought of possibly losing them paralyzed me emotionally. We've grieved over several who lost their lives before it seemed like their time here was done, and tried to find justification in that - those losses brought me many questions that still remain unanswered. And even now as we felt we were coming out of a tough time, we're facing different struggles... It just never ends as long as we're here on earth, and I'm thankful for the promise of a perfect life when we're through with this one! It's what I want my boys to learn as they grow; life can be tough and unfair, but we're promised that God will never leave us. Tomorrow as we celebrate Christmas day, we'll remember that day in history. He sent His son so long ago, and it has changed us now, forever.