I regret I didn’t live up to my word.  I promised a blog post by 2010 and here I am, almost 3 days into January and just getting around to a hasty update.  As I get used to my new planner, I am thinking about how fast the years have gone since 2000.  I rang in the new millennium with a sleep over at my house…I was a freshman in high school with superficial concerns and lacking maturity.  Now, I am a wife, an aunt and a daughter-in-law—I have things like a home, taxes, salaries and high deductible health insurance plans to be concerned about (and a better idea of where to cast those burdens).  My maturity—probably still questionable!

2009 was a great year, but like any year it had its ups and downs.  I guess you can’t appreciate the ups until you realize when you’re climbing out of the downs.  Ministry at our church has been time consuming but worth it.  We started the year of with a winter retreat at beloved Camp Spofford.  Through out the spring and summer Sam cooked up ideas of service projects at local ministries like Helping Hand Rescue Mission and perhaps the most successful event – our youth group put on a VBS program for Roosevelt Bible Church.  Like last summer, our group also partnered with Grace Bible Church in Philadelphia for a week of exposure to ministry in an urban setting.  I love the youth at our church.  Watching them grow and mature is a joy and a privilege.  After many hectic weeks Sam and I ended the summer by celebrating our 1^st Anniversary on a nice, relaxing vacation in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.  We did nothing but be beach bums, it was amazing!

On a much more personal note, this year was definitely colored by one painful event.  In April, I was surprised to find myself pregnant. We were overwhelmed by the pregnancy but our worries and concerns gave way to joy and on Mother’s Day we revealed the news to our families.  For reasons unknown, I miscarried our baby by the middle of May.  I feel this event will haunt us for the rest of our lives, but “hope is born of suffering” and I marvel and the comfort and peace God provided through some dark days.  On our mantel sits a box with the sonogram picture of our first child God knitted in my womb.  It is also filled with the kindest notes and prayers I received due to that loss.  I have never been more thankful for supportive family, kind friends and our church’s tender and loving community.  Most important to me were the relationships formed and strengthened with women who had experienced the same tragedy.  It was their words that made the deepest impression on me, especially those who made a point to reach out to me weeks and months after the event.  I remember that day as the saddest in my life but I also remember it as the day I saw on a deeper level how much of a treasure Sam is to me.  I wonder at how God has been so kind to me in that area. I wish you could have seen how gentle Sam’s eyes are – from when he looked down on me as I lay in the hospital bed before going into the operating room to four months later as he patiently dealt with me as I continued to work through my grief and frustration.

Autumn quickly turned into Christmas-tide.  In that time we’ve celebrated multiple weddings of family and friends (going to weddings is sooo much fun when you know how much marriage means to you), kept up with normal schedules, welcomed a second nephew into our lives, got another dog and discovered we’d have another nephew in the spring.  Thanksgiving also took on a new meaning as our first niece was born prematurely—we continue to be grateful for her continued growth and health.  Soon, she’ll be home with her mom and dad and we couldn’t be more thrilled.  I am looking forward to meeting this little one who has consumed my prayers! Christmas ’09 was quite the busy one! I am proud of Sam and I.  Every now and then I’ll look at him and think “we did it!”  In 11 days, we hosted 15 different people and 2 dogs (not counting our own) at our home.  Some stayed for a night, some for a few days and some for a week, but not all at the same time! Throw in a wedding, a blizzard, Christmas and Sam generally being busier with the church Christmas schedule—well, I don’t know what that makes for, but it’s crazy fun! By our front door hangs a plaque we received as wedding gift.  It reads “whether you come to visit or just to rest, when you enter our home may you be blessed.”  That is my hope for our house.  We were delighted that our home could be the hub for Sam’s family during his brother’s wedding, enabling most of his side to celebrate Christmas a few days early.  I also was delighted to celebrate Christmas with my entire family. With one brother in Cali and the other in Louisville, this isn’t going to happen a lot and I’m grateful when we can actually pull it off. Well there ya have it! If you want more details, all you have to do is ask.  Sam and I recouped by spending a night in New York City.  Nothing like starting the new year off on the right foot! Beware, I plan on “blogging” a whole lot more in 2010.  Thanks for taking the time to care about us, whoever our readers are (hi mom)!!!

I have to be awake in a couple hours…the problem is I’m awake now. I have a lot running through my head – everything from my lesson for small group tomorrow night to what I should get my nephew for Christmas…oy vey. Speaking of Small Group – let me give you a sneak peak of what goes on Wednesday nights in my home – for about 1.5 hours every week, 8 girls walk into my home. I also have another young woman helping me, and let me tell you – she is a God-sent, ready and willing to serve  in teaching, encouraging, praying and even driving (she often gives girls rides to and from small group, giving up her valuable time just to ensure girls are consistently engaging in our community). We’ve been meeting in my basement discussing God, life and where those two things intersect. We’ve also been praying a lot for one another-to hear the prayers these girls utter is such a precious part of our time. I’ve been really burdened for these girls lately – I look back at my closest set of friends in Jr. High – not many of them have made the best decisions, seems like the world just has a way of sucking them into a vaccuum. I couldn’t help but wonder what the story holds for my small group. I increasingly feel more and more what a parent must feel – a deeply rooted longing to protect a child from every bad choice, motive, influence, character trait, inicident, etc. I admit at times hanging around a bunch of talkative teens is the last thing I want to do after a long day of answering phones, writing emails, reporting to others and making sure I’m communicating all that I have to to keep up with my work. But then I think of the accountability, encouragement, sister-hood and community that God fosters and I feel His strength enabling me. Girls in jr./sr. high school have it rough, (I think things have gotten harder since I was in high school which was only 6 years ago) and my prayer is that every girl that passes through the youth ministry program at DHEFC will realize the following:
1. They are deeply loved by Jesus
2. Their life has a purpose
3. They were created by God

Would you join with me in praying for the girls of the youth group? Pray that they wouldn’t go off course, following the empty promises of the world, but that they would know the greatest love there is, the greatest eternal purpose that they could live for, the most loving being who out-shines any other suitor. I get excited thinking about young women who will change lives by showing the world a faith that is gentle yet strong…I think of the hope they profess and how that hope will come into the lives of those who are at wit’s end.

Last weekend was pretty busy – on Friday we did a youth rally with some of my friends from Bethel Lutheran and Huntington Baptist Church – along with John Bernor and his youth group. On Sunday night – we had a really great kids program – check out some pictures in the video above.