The last 10 years has brought many things that dealt with change. Although at the time, change was met with the desire to run away, God blessed us with the trials. It was in the trials:
The near loss of Bella at age 2, exactly 2 months after moving to Maine from a blood infection.
Zac arriving healthy but sickly starting at 6 months that we spent most of the next year and a half with multiple specialists and trips to the hospital or ER.
Gabbi had a mishap with a friend’s dog that landed her in the special care unit for 8 days.
A few years later, we found out Chris had a baseball sized tumor on his left side…He underwent surgery to remove it. Thankful to God it was not cancerous, but the whole process and the fact he suffered from infection 8 weeks after, was scary! With all of this stuff, I struggled with clinical depression.
All that, on top of ministry and the challenges we encountered along with the 4 things I listed!
Highlights of the last 10 years:
2 boys were added to our family!! Zac and Ollie!
Ministry in Rockland and merging 2 congregations together. Only God can do that!
I finished my undergrad in 2017 and because of my experience with depression, God gave me the desire to help people with mental illness. I’m currently in my 2nd year of my MA degree in clinical mental health counseling.
We ministered in Maine for about 10 years. Although we left friends who turned into family, Chris is in his element overseeing missionaries in Southeast Asia and traveling to learn about them to tell their stories!
How in the world does one keep faith in the trials of life? I have once heard that how you react to crisis or life-changing events can be a measure of faith…Do we run to God in crisis or do we get mad at Him for making life so hard and walk away from our relationship with Him? I certainly don’t have this Faith thing all figured out yet, but what I do know is that God used the very things that were meant to discourage, tear us down or simply suck the life out of us and used them for good!
Through the good, bad and ugly of this past decade, I count my blessings! I know my Heavenly Father in a way that I didn’t at the start of this past decade! I have seen Him do the impossible in man’s eyes and made it possible…I have seen Him perform miracles in the midst of my questions! I have seen Him move mountains that were absolutely too big for me to move on my own! I have seen Him heal! I have also experienced the realness presence of God in my life when I wanted to give up-He is the reason why I am here today.
Sure, there were uncertainties, but God remains the same as He was yesterday, today and will be forever! His promises are still for the good of those who love Him!
As we finish out the first day of 2020, I am excited and full of Hope that God is going to continue to do exactly what He knows best to do!
So, I say to 2020 and next 10 years-with whatever comes our way, “BRING IT!”
“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Phil. 3:12-14
