Well,  summer vacation has arrived, and I have a lot more time on my hands.  I've been talking quite a bit lately about how I really need to start bloggin again.  A friend recently found this blog for the first time, and I have to admit I was a bit embarrassed by how dated it is.  So, here's the past year in a nutshell and some info about what's going on in our lives now.

My school:  This year was very challenging for me.  I'm not sure how open I should be about the struggles and difficulties I faced, but I will say that I'm pretty sure a miracle happened around the middle of February.  I think that was when I stopped dreading each new day.  I had built relationships with my students.  I think they'd come to trust me, respect me, and maybe even, in at least a few cases, like me!  I had fallen in love with them.  There were still challenging moments and tough days, but for the most part, things really improved in the spring.  I attribute this to answered prayers!  So many people had come along side me as they watched me struggle, and they made it their mission to pray for me and my classroom.  I am so thankful!  

T's school:  He did a fabulous job in school this year.  Both semesters his grades were awesome, and he studies with such diligence and passion (it is his most beloved topic - the Bible!)  He rarely puts things off and never turns stuff in late (like I know I did a few times).  He works hard.  I knew he would.  And he's actually adjusted pretty well to life as a student in the urban environment.  Honestly, that's something I worried about.  I think we've both realized that he doesn't need mountains to survive.  He thrives there, of course, but the things that really make him live and breath every day are the Word of God and people to talk to, to love, and to serve.  If he has those things, he does alright.  This year, I think I've come to understand just how compassionate my husband is.  When he was working in the FD, I was pretty sure evangelism/teaching/preaching were his main giftings.  Now, I'm not saying those aren't up there, but compassion and hospitality sure are high on his list.  I've been the benefactor of this so often as I've struggled through this year.  And I've also been encouraged and challenged as I've watched him reach out to meet the physical and spiritual needs of friends in our church and our community and also strangers on the street.  Anyway, back to the topic of school....  he's going to be an RA (Resident Assistant) over the married student housing next year.  He's taking 3 classes this summer (2 down, 1 to go).  He wrote a killer paper last semester that his prof asked to keep to use as an example.  I think it was a commentary on a scripture passage.  He's too humble to brag on himself, so I have to do it :) 

Our church:  We've truly found a church home.  We're helping with the youth group and love the relationships we've been able to build with fellow leaders and also with the students.  It was tough at first to figure out how to establish a "youth group" environment and community when none of the students who were coming had ever been part of a church youth group, and most had very little contact with a church before now.  We're going through a class/Bible study in the process of becoming members or ... Covenant Partners... I think that's what we call it.  This church, this body of believers, is really missional - very outreach focused.  We love it, and we're trying to become more involved.  

Our loss:  In April, we learned that I was pregnant.  It came as a surprise, but we were definitely excited.  Our initial intentions to keep the news hush hush didn't last long, and pretty soon we were just too excited to hold it in.  Around the 7 week mark, I began bleeding.  We rushed to the ER, worried and praying for good news.  We heard the baby's heartbeat, and saw the wee little bean-sized baby on the ultrasound monitor.  Praise God!  The next day we saw the same thing at another check up.  A week later, we saw a seemingly healthy baby once again!  And it was growing!  Around 3 a.m. on June 7, we lost the baby.  I think we both knew it had happened.  We cried.  We prayed.  We went to the E.R.  We prayed for a miracle - for some sort of unbelievable good news.  And...as we've inclined our hearts to do, we prayed for God's will in the situation.  His will looked very different from our desires.  But, the scriptures assure us - His thoughts are higher than our thoughts, His ways are higher than ours (paraphrase Isaiah 55:9).  So, as this hurt and pain and grief has washed over us, we've realized there is only one response that we're left with at the end of the day.  Praise the Lord!  Believe me.  I've yelled.  We've cried.  We've held each other.  And we've found the greatest comfort in God's word.  In looking to the future and clinging to the promise that every tear will be wiped away.  

The Father has given us peace.  Really, it's the kind of peace I prayed for while we were waiting in the E.R.  The kind scripture says "passes all understanding."  It really is the kind of peace that just baffles you.  It makes you certain that God is there because this kind of peace couldn't come from anywhere else!

Also, we've been able to see the Body of Christ in action.  Although I haven't come to a place, not sure if I ever will, where I'm glad this all has happened, I am thankful that God saved this experience for this time in our lives.  What I'm trying to say is that if we had to go through this, for whatever reason, I'm glad we didn't have to go through it last fall or last winter or really early in our marriage.  Last fall, we didn't know ANYONE here.  Now, we have so many friends here.  I can't believe how many cards have been slipped under our door or how many meals have showed up in the hands of dear friends.  Flowers have come.  Money has come ... for "a night out" or "to do something special together."  Dear friends of ours actually offered to call others for us.  So we wouldn't have to go through that painful process of telling everyone what had happened.  I can't begin to say how amazing it was to wake up Monday morning and find cards and notes on the floor by our door, knowing that we had only told our parents, sisters, and two other people, and already, dozens of people were praying for us.  Friends have been there just to listen.  To do something fun and productive with us when we really needed to just get out and stop crying for a little while.  We have really been blessed to see how people can be the hands and feet of Christ.  I was reading through a few of my old posts and read about how I'd been longing for friends last fall.  How I knew God was glorified when people lived community and fellowship and comforted one another in times of grief.  I know it so much more now than I did back then.  I've felt it.  I'm so glad he's blessed us with friends and family!

Alright.  T just looked over from his chair and asked, "Did you finish writing your book?"  This is rather long, and I'm not sure if anyone's interested enough to get this far....  I'm not offended if you've skimmed it.  I think I've written it more for myself than anyone else.  Guess I needed to put words to it all.  

"To God be the glory, Great things he has done!"