Goodbye to a Decade: The Final Chapter

Here's the final post in my little series.  Click HERE to read an earlier post.

Twenty-eight - This year started off with some wonderful news--our family of three would soon be a family of four.

Sharing the news with our loved ones

Aug. 2009:  I was awarded a 1-to-1 computing grant for my classroom.  Each student in my class was given their own personal mini-laptop to use.  I also got the unique opportunity to "loop" up with my students.  This was such a wonderful experience and my students and I had a very good school year.

Sept. 2009:  It's a GIRL!

Jan. 21, 2010:  Little Edy Rose joined our family.  This was one of the happiest days of my life.

Feb. 2010:  Graham was contacted by Fellowship Bible Church in Jacksonville, TX about the possibility of taking a pastoral position.


March 2010:  My maternity leave ended, but KK came to stay with Edy which made the transition so much easier.


-I had a three day hospital stay and a surgery to remove a large kidney stone.  I was so glad that the kidney stone waited until Edy Rose was born to make its appearance. *By the way, I forgot to mention that I went through the same thing in March of `09 as well.*


May 2010: We made a trip to Jacksonville, TX to check out Fellowship Bible Church.


JOYS: fixing up Edy's nursery, pregnancy joys, having KK stay with us, summer vacation, reading
WOES: pregnancy cons, surgery to remove a kidney stone, maternity leave ending, preschool issues with AG

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Twenty-nine - As dramatic as this may sound, this was the hardest year of my twenties by far. . .

May 2010:  After years of praying that the Lord would open up a way for me to stay home, He answered my prayer.  Graham accepted the position as pastor at Fellowship Bible, Jacksonville,TX.  We immediately put our house on the market.

-Graham and I took a little mini-vacation to Tulsa, OK to celebrate our anniversary.

June 2010:  While Graham was on a trip to Nicaragua, our church in Fort Smith burned down.  We were devastated.

Aug. 2010:  Graham made the move to TX while the girls and I stayed in Fort Smith.  This was very hard for our family.

-We lost a dear and precious friend.

Sept. 2010: A sweet family in TX moved out of their home and offered for us to stay there.  We said goodbye to all of our wonderful friends in Fort Smith and made the move to the Lone Star State.

-We tried to get adjusted to life in TX, life on one income (quite a bit lower than our dual income in AR), life in limbo.  But I came to the realization that this time in our lives isn't supposed to be spent in "limbo".  The Lord has a plan NOW.  This year may have been the hardest year of my life, but it has also been the most spiritually rewarding.  I have been able to spend so much time with HIM.  These past nine months, my life has slowed down a bit--in a good way.  Heck yeah, staying home is no joke and I am just as busy as ever, but I have a different schedule where I am able to devote more time to things of eternal significance.

Nov. 2010: house on the market for six months

December 2010:  We had our first Christmas at our house.  It was the BEST Christmas ever!

March 2011: We were tickled to find out that we were expecting baby #3.

April 2011:  At just eight weeks along, we lost the baby.

May 2011:  house has been on the market an entire year

-I got an iPhone.  It's just to wonderful not to mention!

JOYS:  time spent studying God's Word and praying, every.single.day spent with my children, new friendships, so far no kidney stones, jogging, playing with my phone, reading

WOES: time spent away from Graham, packing to move, insurance issues, financial hardships, every.single.day spent with my children :), still owning a house in AR

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That about wraps it up.  I'm now a woman in my thirties and I'm looking forward to what God has in store next.  I don't really know how to end this post, so I'll end with a prayer:

Thank you, Father, for the past decade of my life.  Thank You for loving me even through my failures and weaknesses. Thank You for Your forgiveness. Thank You for all of the life lessons. Thank You for giving me a wonderful husband and two extraordinary children. Thank You for growing me in knowledge and in truth.  I love You and above all I want to give You all of the glory, the honor, and the praise...in everything.