Wednesday, December 31, 2008

The End of 2008

As the end of the year comes and goes, I wonder about this year. In some ways it seems like a blur. I always try to thing about the year and things done. It started out pretty darn stable and it has ended not so much. At the beginning of the year, we were settled in our house, both had desk jobs, and things were flowing pretty smoothly. Rusty got back into Archery. We went to a few shoots and did stuff with other people but it didn't seem super busy. We were going along and then summer hit and things started changing in good ways it seemed at first. Rusty started getting different oppertunities at work. He went on a trip to Montana and things seemed good. Then August hit. My grandfather died and we had some other losses and Rusty had to start working out of town during the week. The fall was nice and mild but Rusty was having more difficulties at work and things were good financially but it was getting more stressful. November we decided to start a remodel on our bathroom. A few weeks after that Rusty was laid off. As I reflect on the year I am just reminded of how little control we have and we cannot trust in this world. All I can think of is the verse that stated that we do not trust in chariots but in the Lord, our God. I also have to think about the word "comfortable". It seems so nice but is it what God wants for us. Does He want us to be comfortable? Does he want us to have it easy? I kind of don't think so. I say that b/c when we are comfortable and things are easy we don't grow as much. We aren't challenged. When I started the Bible study "When I lay my Isaac Down" in the Fall that God was preparing me for stuff that was coming. The kicker is that I think we have only seen the tip of the iceberg in the challenges ahead. I also know that there is a lot of good ahead and a lot of blessings ahead. And in those times that I feel overwhelmed and wondering how much more. I thank God that he is teaching me to rely on Him and His strength, and His provision. Happy New Year, all. And may you trust and depend on God in whatever comes your way this next year.

Sunday, December 07, 2008

Life is unpredictable...

Well, the journey of life continues...with this month and last month being no different. Thanksgiving was very interesting with my maternal aunt and uncle coming unexpectedly. The last holiday I had spent with them was about 20 years ago. It was challenging and I had a very bad attitude on a day that I should have been nothing but thankful. But we did beat the storm home and did not have to contend with any bad roads and got back for the homemade turkey and noodles with Rusty's family. December has started with a bang. Rusty got laid off from his job this last week. But the miracle of this is that we are both very peaceful about it. I feel like that God has something better for us and that this may have been the only way for Him to show us. I feel that it is much better for Rusty and already his attitude has become much more positive and I love having him home all the time. So we are just waiting for God to show us where to go and what to do. Because all in all God is our provider not man. As always we could use your prayer for wisdom and discernment in this time of decisions and tight finances during the holiday season. Then on Thursday, we went to a genetic counselor b/c we had a blood test come back showing that I had some funky things going on with my chromosomes. Come to find out I have what it called a balanced translocation where part of my 16 chromosome attached to 18 and part of 18 attached to 16. So what that means is that some of my eggs either are missing some chromosome parts and have too many chromosome parts. This just puts me at higher risk for further miscarriages and also for birth defects if I have a pregnancy go to term. But the genetic counselor made it sound like that we have a good chance of having a healthy pregnancy with no complications. So just pray that Rusty's swimmers find the healthy eggs that have all the right chromosomes. Last, pray that we get our bathroom remodel finished. Right now I have no toilet and no shower. Needless to say we have been spending a lot of time at Rusty's parents :) Love you all and Merry Christmas