2008: Year in Review

Here's a summary of the highlights and lowlights of 2008 for our family. I've included my personal prayer requests at the bottom. If you have any of your own, feel free to leave them in the comments (or e-mail them to me) and I will pray for you too.

January: Job hunting for Brian. We were scouring the internet and praying fervently that God would provide a job for Brian at the right time. This is the month that we found out that Foundations Academy wanted to fly him out for an interview.

February: My 27th birthday. We celebrated with a trip to Paris! Brian flew out to Idaho just before our trip and sent off his signed contract from the post office inside the Louvre. We had the wonderful news that my sister in law was expecting, and then came the blow that she had lost her triplets.

March & April: Exploring the UK with the growing awareness that we weren't there for much longer. We were surprised to find how very at home and comfortable we felt in a place that was once so foreign and scary. I wrote my first issue of Keepers of the Home.

May: Leaving Brighton for the last time. We shipped 6 boxes and had more than our full allowance of luggage, trying to carry back memories of an experience that had shaped and changed us, deeply not wanting those changes to disappear or memories to fade. We had a curry and some wine our last night at home with our two dear friends Anthony and Christina. Christina took us to Gatwick the next morning, faithfully helping us to carry everything through the airport. I remembered all of this incredibly vividly when we dropped her off at the airport here in Boise yesterday.

June: My mom had surgery, my brother graduated high school, Iain turned 2, and we celebrated 7 (!) years of marriage right back where it all began. It was surreal, eating our anniversary dinner at the Denny's where we had our first date. We had such a nice visit with our families after being away for so long.

July: Moving to Boise, Brian's 29th birthday. We took Brian's brother Austin with us as we traveled very slowly north, visiting as many people as possible on our farewell lap of the east. It was especially good to see my Uncle Greg, who I see very rarely, as he is practically my only contact with Dad's family anymore. He reminds me so much of my Dad that I tear up every time I see him. It felt like the filling of a void for him to meet Iain. Our stay with him was like a homecoming to me, a reconnection to part of my past that was once vital and now lost. (My dad passed away in a car accident when I was eight.) We stayed in Nashville after that, visiting Allan and Christine. Brian, Allan, and Austin headed out to Boise in the van while Iain and I stayed in Tennessee for a week. After arriving in Boise, our apartment wasn't ready, so we stayed with the Stutzmans and the Goodwins for two weeks. Finally on the day after Brian's birthday we moved in, but without any furnishings. The mover debacle was a definitely a low point in the year.

August: Our things finally arrived! The folks at Foundations had lent us the basics to survive. After many delays and loads more money, the moving truck finally came, leaving us with mountains of boxes. Brian began teaching at Foundations. I find a job babysitting.

September: We finally settled on a church home, All Saints Presbyterian.

October: Foundations has it's foundation dedication art project at the new building site. Iain becomes a big boy and says "Bye bye binky!"

November: Adam came for Thanksgiving.

December: Christina's visit, which I have yet to blog about, due to being busy visiting!

Prayer Requests for the New Year:
That God would allow our family to grow with the addition of more children. This is the greatest of my heart's desires, but I don't know if it is really what is best, or what the Lord has for us. But he is kind to listen to our petitions, and gracious even when he says "No."

That I would grow in my faith. I want to live like a believer, every day, in every circumstance and attitude. I find that with every unexpected expenditure, every thwarted desire, every circumstance that doesn't go I as had hoped or planned, like I react like a two-year-old child, with complaints, with frustrated tears, with a lack of belief that my Father knows best what I need.

That I would recognize and embrace my calling in life, nurturing and stewarding the talents and resources that God has given me, being full of contentment with this season of my life, and working diligently at the tasks he sets me to, glamorous or not.

Happy New Year to everyone. Praise God that we are one year closer to glory, and knowing that the fullness of time and salvation has not yet come, let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us!