Year in Review

Wow. Thinking back over 2008, I'm amazed at the things Darin, the Lord and I walked through.

At the beginning of the year, I set a goal to publish something (anything!) and I'm happy to report my goal was met! In cooperation with the Baptist World Alliance, I got to participate in writing a devotional for Advent (see it online at BaptistWay, "Online Reading" - mine was Dec. 29) so I just barely met it, but hey, it happened nonetheless!

April brought the 90th birthday of my precious grandfather, which we celebrated with a huge family gathering. And, praise God, he's still doing quite well! It also brought the delightful addition of a goofy and precious puppy we named Dodger: family member and mascot for Darin's T-Ball team!

In May, we enjoyed a delightful touring vacation through Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, and North Carolina, and then our world turned upside with the advent of three children under three moving into our home. Fostering those kids was a tremendous blessing and labor, simultaneously. I still celebrate with fondness and joy the progress and growth we saw in them as the Lord allowed us (and so many of our friends) to invest our lives into theirs.

The greatest blessing of all came in October, as we purchased our beautiful home. We're so glad buying the house enabled us to set down more stable roots and, and at the same time, help the church by providing more comfortable housing for the NeSmiths. We've been thrilled to get to know our neighbors as we've settled in to our new surroundings. If you're in the area, please stop by: we're the only house with a mailbox!

So, there it is, 2008 in review. Full of new experiences and blessings and relationships and even an accomplishment or two! (Although not printed this year, a lesson I wrote for BaptistWay is scheduled to appear in the Adult Sunday School Literature, Spring of 2009!)

So I celebrate and say with James "Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father" (1:17)!