And So It Ends, And A New Dawn Begins...

2013 was a hard year. A really hard year. My emotions felt like they were on an emotional roller-coaster as I learned to navigate never traversed waters. As soon as I would "learn" something new, God would throw a curve-ball at me to make sure I was staying focused on Him and not in my own ability. I definitely needed those curve-balls!

My birth-certificate - after more than a year of figuring out what was needed, I now officially exist!

This year has seen many family get-togethers, chaperoning, dancing, heartaches, laughing, crying my eyes out late at night (and not so late at night), new and old friends, learning new things, teaching kids, my first break-down due to stress (not something I would suggest….), music with siblings, learning from kids, a new sister (and new brothers!), God’s love, ultimate volleyball games, a new job, a course change in our life, new ministry opportunities, and many other thing too numerous to count!

Toe shoes unite! Raffa 5k Race #2

My co-brother-in-law, brother, myself, and sister-in-law at the end of the week after teaching the youth at a Family Camp in Arkansas during 4th of July.

This year I learned how to better teach children through the Child Evangelism training, and how to organize a children’s ministry. I also became a certified Emergency Medical Responder, and a certified Crisis Pregnancy Counselor.

The EMR group, the day we finished our final exam. That was the most fun group to do a class with! 

All the CYIA's after finishing the week long CEF training course

I learned that my life is not about me, and it will never be about me. It is about serving God and others.

The sign I made for the kids ministry for the revival we were teaching kids at. 

I learned more about my identity in Christ as His daughter. I am not my mom, and I am not my brothers. I am my own unique person.

And this actually is a lot more comfortable than it looks. ;) You should try it.....

I learned more about being an adult due to the increase of responsibilities that have been passed to me.

The Civil War Bonnie Blue Ball

I learned that I don’t have enough energy to do everything, but that God will always give me what I need to accomplish whatever He puts in front of me as long as I trust Him.

Playing music with siblings.....

I have learned how to be a better daughter to my mom as I serve her.

My mom's and niece's birthday! 

I have learned how to be a better sister to my brothers and sisters-in-law as our family expands.

Sibling photos before my brother's wedding in October. I love my siblings, new and old. ;) 

And so a new year begins. New trials, new victories, new lessons, new friends, new opportunities to learn and apply what I have learned. 2013 was not what I was expecting, to say the least, but I am so glad it happened with all the crazy-stuff that went on. I was definitely out of my comfort zone for a lot of the year. :)

I am looking forward to 2014. Looking back at what I expected 2013 to be, and then how it turned out, I can’t imagine what 2014 will look like. But I’m ready for it, because I know that God will give me the strength to persevere through whatever He has for me.

And I’m not one for making New Years resolutions, but I wanted to share with you something that I have been doing the last couple years around New Years. Each new year I write down in my journal, prayers that I have for different things that I want God to teach me in the coming year, or things that I wanted to get better at. And then a year later, I come back to them and see how God has taught me whatever it was, or how because of lack of follow-through on my part, I wasn't able to do it. I write down what I learned about each thing (the first year I had 8 prayers, last year I had 12), and then I write down a new list of prayers for the coming year.

For example, this is something I wrote last New Year's: "I want to hear Jesus’ voice clearly and trust Him wherever He leads. I don’t want my logic to get in the way". And then this year when I went back to the list, I wrote this in response to it: "God has given me ample opportunities to follow Him through very precarious situations that just looked crazy this year. But, as long as I trusted Him, the ways He orchestrated everything turned out far better than anything I could have imagined! It was amazing!"

It has been such a wonderful way to really see how God has answered my prayers and the different ways He answered the prayers, and it has encouraged me to be more studious in my walk with Him. I’d encourage you to try it. :)

And now I shall end with this quote from my sweet sister-in-law that she wrote to me last year on my birthday card. It has been an encouragement to me all year as it has helped me refocus on what is important (God), and I pray that it would be an encouragement to you this coming year! It is my prayer for all of you. :-)

“I pray this year brings you closer to our precious Savior and that you will be given grace to see each situation which God places in your life as what it really is - an opportunity to trust, love, and be more fully submitted to Christ, thereby bringing Him glory.”

Happy New Year!