So, this is my first attempt(actually about the 15th) at getting this blog going. I hope to find joy in looking back at each day and focusing on the many blessings God has showered on me and my family. Hopefully it will be a reminder to me throughout the day to look for the "God-sightings" as I think about recording them at the end of each day.
Life can get mundane and heavy and I don't ever want to forget what a great God I serve. I want to have my "God-glasses" on so I can grow in my love for Him and in turn share that love with my children and others that He puts in my path. So, for now, here is my story.....
I was blessed to be raised in a Christian home. I was never without anything I needed. When I graduated from high school I had no idea what I wanted to do so waited a semester and worked. Then God showed me that NBBI is where He wanted me. I went and little did I know that His plan was that I meet Brian. Brian and I dated until November and then got engaged. The following October we were married. We knew that God was calling us back to NBBI for Brian to finish, but we fought against that a lot! We went to a marriage conference that early spring after we married and it was there that Brian decided he was ready to start a family. He was already 27. So we got pregnant and decided to move in with my parents for just a few months to save money for a house before the "baby" came. God had other plans in mind. A week after we moved in with my parents, we found out we were pregnant with twins!!! 3 weeks after that, we went away for our 1st anniversary and ended up in the hospital in pre-term labor. From there it was down-hill. More preterm labor, in and out of the hospital, diabetes, and finally toxemia which is why we finally delivered. Two healthy boys, Bradley and Nicholas who are now 11!!! Where did that time go?!? They were sheer delight! They still are! We went to visit friends in Northern Maine in April of that year and visited NBBI and decided finally to obey God's voice to go back to finish Bri's schooling. Nothing like waiting until you had 2 babies! :) God was so good though. It was the most growing 2 years we had in our married life. There are so many stories I could share, but let's just say that faith was in high demand and grew in leaps and bounds while there.
After we finished our last 2 years there, we moved back to NH. We got pregnant with Dylan that summer, he is now 8!!! :) He is pure joy also. He has been so much fun. He is certainly stuck in a rock and a hard place being younger than twin brothers and older than his sister, but he fairs well in spite of it all. The following year we got pregnant again hoping to have a sibling close to Dylan in age, but God had other plans in mind. Ethan died at 32 weeks. We never found out why. God wanted him in heaven with him. Our peace with the matter was that he would never have the chance to reject God while on this earth. He was secure in heaven with our Savior and we will see him again some day. It was a difficult thing to process, but God's peace passed all understanding and His hope carried us through. It was an extremely bonding time for Brian and I in our marriage.
A few months later we got pregnant again. It was a tough 9 months waiting to see if something bad would happen again. Again God's peace passed all understanding and we just had to rest in knowing He was in control. At our half-way ultrasound we found out it was a GIRL!!! :) We were ecstatic! We also finally were accepted at a church in Maine for Brian to pastor. We moved there in May and that August sent our boys off to Kindergarten and the same day ended up at the hospital giving birth to Kelsey(who is just finishing her Kindergarten year and is 5-will be 6 at the end of the summer!!!). Our 15 months in Maine were a stretching experience in every way. Kelsey had a rough 1st year in health and was in the hospital twice and the ER a couple of times as well. Our family was practically ripped apart at the seams, but God is sooooo good!!!! We left Maine the following July and bought a house back in NH and spent the next 2-3 years gluing the pieces of our family back together, with God's help being the glue.
We are now feeling "settled". The kids are in the public school. Brian and I feel that at least for now the kids should be there. God has used them mightily in the lives of the teachers, children and those children's parents lives. We have had the opportunity to invite children to Good News Club, AWANA, VBS, church, SS, etc. It has not been an easy road, but we know it is where God wants them for now. They are in the world, but being trained to not be of the world. It is ultimately their personal choice and that is tough sometimes, but again we place our hope and faith in a God who loves them even more than I do.
We host a young adults small group in our home on Thursday nights and we love our group. They are such a blessing! Brian works for the power company here locally and also writes books on the side. His prayer is that some day God would allow that to be his full-time job and that he will be able to travel speaking with his books. I am busy caring for a family of 6, and work part-time at my dad and brother's company doing filing and data entry.
God has truly blessed us.
Leaving you on a cute note.....Kelsey Sunday thought it was pom-pom Sunday instead of Palm Sunday. :)
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