Ringing in 2010!

I can't believe another year has gone by! 2009 was a great year for my family. I am excited to see what 2010 has to bring. This year I received my masters. I am so glad to be done and proud to have accomplished a goal I set for my self in high school. There is nothing like looking back and reflecting on your past. The other day I got out my senior book and looked to see what I had wrote. Isn't funny how differently you see your self when you are younger? Some of the things I had hoped for the future came true. I am blessed with a husband and children who love God. I have a good roof over my head. I LOVE my job. I have the best family and friends a girl could ask for. Sometimes I wonder how things could be any better. I remember the times when I thought nothing was going the way it should. Getting married at 19 and a child by 20 was not what I saw for my self in my senior book but its what made me the person I am today. I was blessed to have a supportive husband and family to help us. A personal struggle in my life came after Zachary was born. It caused me to question who I was, where I came from, and how could I have been lied to for so long. At first I was very bitter, mad, and sad but as time went by I realized that it could shape me into someone I did not want to be or make me stronger. I chose to become stronger and forgive the way God forgives me daily. Chucky supported me in finishing college even when baby number 2 came at age 22. He was there in my corner supporting me. A year after Chase was born we hit a rough patch in our marriage. I also hit a rough patch in my health. Both were very scary. The whole time the one thing missing was slapping us both right in the face GOD! After we moved from Horatio we never found a church family and started to let the ways of the world rule our life instead of God's way. After completing college and starting my teaching career, I met a great friend who invited us to church. Chucky got saved and I found my way back home to God. Who had never really left to begin with! As I read my senior book that is one thing I hoped to have a God fearing husband and a family in church. I am glad to say I have both. And we could not ask for a better church family than Spring Lake Baptist. Then baby number 3 came and I was blessed with 3 sons. As I read the page out of my senior book I saw I wanted 3 or 4 kids. I guess I accomplished that one as well. It is nice to look back and reflect on who we were and where we are now. I am glad to see that my life is so much more then I could have ever hoped for.
As I look at the boys playing together on the floor I start to think about the future. I am hoping that 2010 will be a year of new adventure, exciting and fun times with family and friends, and new opportunities in my job. But most importantly I want to live in the moment cherishing my precious sons not wanting the year to go by to fast. Not wanting them to grow up before my eyes. So here is a toast to the past may we remember where we came from and to the future my it be better then we can imagine! I hope 2010 is a GREAT year. God Bless and Happy New Year!