December 17, 2011

• Christmas Photos 2011

  Today is our 11 year anniversary. We went to a movie and then sat in the food court in the mall sharing a Stromboli and bread sticks. This has not been one of our easiest years, and we have no idea the challenges that face us this coming year. But I am so very, very blessed to be his wife. We talked about how grateful we both feel to have stayed so in love since we were just two kids in high school, and how blessed we are that our marriage has always been strong even when life has been tough. I asked him what he thought were the “secrets” to our happy marriage. His answers were: #1 staying pure until we got married and #2 having common goals for our lives. I loved his answers. I loved that he came up with them so fast. I am humbled by the strength God gave us to stay pure and the way He continues to put similar goals and dreams in each of our hearts.

  

  

  Sometimes I look at our sweet children and part of me just wants to do everything in my power to make their lives lovely: visions of gap clothes, golf lessons, awesome family vacations, and the perfect college education. But I have to slap myself sometimes and get out that book I say I base my life on: The B-I-B-L-E and take a look at what is important to God. The poor. The orphan. The widow. The forgotten. The lost.  My number one goal has to be teach them what it looks like to surrender…..and to love.

  

  
   
  

  

                        

  Destiny Hope has changed so much this year. She is has almost caught up with her brother in height, she has passed him up in weight, and her hair has FINALLY reached her shoulders!! She is her own person and we’re never quite sure what we are going to get out of her from one hour to the next. I still adore her, however, and I love to hear her talk. She has the absolutely sweetest voice on planet earth.  

  

  

  

  

  Camden loves to draw and he is good at it. Camden, also, has this whole superhero world in his head – he calls it “Comedell World” (he is Comedell) and sometimes I will find him pacing back and forth in his room or jumping from couch to couch in the homeschool room and I will ask, “What on earth are you doing?” And he will say, “Thinking about “Comedell World.” I did not have a superhero world when I was young, but I did love to daydream. I remember that every night when I went to bed when I was around Camden’s age, I would daydream that I had braces, red glasses and a bunch of kittens. I mean, seriously, what more could a girl ask for. My best guess is that he will graduate from daydreams to real dreams over the next several years, and I hope and pray that Camden has a heart for God that allows the dreams that form inside of that head of his to be God-inspired dreams that He will see come to pass. I have great anticipation for his future. Soooooo blessed to be his mom.

  

  

   

  

  Parenting is a continuous series of “resolutions”. Especially for me, I constantly have to ask God for forgiveness for not measuring up as the Mama I want to be. I not only have to be the best mom I can be, I have to strive to be the best teacher I can be while at the same time finding the perfect balance between the two. I cling constantly to Isaiah 54:13 which says, “I will teach your children, and they will enjoy great peace.” I pray that God fills in where I fail. I pray that while they lay in bed each night they give God the chance to teach them, mold them, and fill them with His peace and joy.

  

  

  

                  

     

  We heard this quote in the movie we watched tonight:

  “If you could do anything and know that you wouldn’t fail what would it be? Once you figure it out – go do it.”

  I felt like everything around me went silent for a few moments when I heard that. What an incredible thought. What an incredible challenge. Blake and I have some pretty big ideas, goals and dreams. And sometimes they scare me out of my wits. There is a bunch of room for failure in our future and a big part of me wants to play it safe. But as cliche as it sounds, our family has only one life to live. Our life here on earth is the only opportunity we have to show God how grateful we are for the life He gave for us. There are truly, truly awful things happening in our world. There are broken people that need Jesus. God has given all of us an opportunity to make a difference, and the “bigger than scared” part of me wants our family to be apart of that difference. But the super-duper awesome thing about God is that yes, He calls us to sacrifice and surrender, but He always leaves room for fun. He is an extravagant and abundant God.

  

             

                

  Merry Christmas from our family!!

  • 12:52 am
  • 3 Comments