This past year has been a roller coaster ride. Seth and I celebrated our first anniversary on November 21, 2010. We took a weekend trip to San Antonio and had an amazing time!! I am so thankful for him. He has helped me grow over the last year and really has showed me to stop sweating the small stuff. We endured our first year of marriage. I don't mean endured like it was a struggle because it wasn't at all on the relationship side of it. We just went through many life struggles this year.
Here is a glimpse of some of our struggles from this past year..
A few months before the school year was over, there was the possibility of me losing my job. At this time in our marriage, Seth was just finishing up school and was working part time. God was really at work on my life about trusting Him. Everything ended up working out fine for us in God's timing. Seth graduated college (a long 5 years) and began looking for a job. We were just so sure that he would get one right away because that was our plan! God had other plans. The summer passed and still no job. August came around, I was beginning my 3rd year of teaching and finally, Seth found a job!! God really did provide. PRAISE GOD! Seth still has this job today and really loves it. Things were going great, and we couldn't have been happier. Again, God had different plans.
On Friday, August 27, just a few days before Seth was to begin his first day of work, I got a phone call from Seth telling me that my Dad had been in an accident at work, and I needed to get to the hospital right away. If you have never had a phone call like this before, then I pray you never get one. This was the worst feeling of my life. On the way to the hospital, I just had a feeling that my Dad was gone. It's like God was speaking to me..I had time to prepare for the news I was going to receive. I found myself praying please Lord help me get through this instead of please Lord don't take my Dad. This was an odd prayer for me because I don't like to accept things that are out of my control. God was really working on me. I got to the hospital to find that my Dad was gone. He had been electrocuted, and just like that he was gone. I never even got to say good-bye. I have to say that this has been one of the biggest struggles in our lives. Such a huge obstacle, so early in our marriage. My Dad was always the one in my life that I could always count on since I was little. Even as a married woman he was still such a big part of my life, and now he is no longer there. I've learned to lean on God and Seth more than ever now.
About a month later, Seth's Me Maw became very ill. She went through many tests and the conclusion was that she had cancer. They only gave her a few months to live. We were still in the process of grieving over my Dad and now this? I kept telling myself God is in control, but it so hard to comprehend when all these things are thrown at you. Throughout the midst of all this my mom had to have a total hip replacement. Her surgery went well, but mentally it was hard. The absence of my Dad was much stronger than ever now. Instead of Mom being able to lean to Dad, she was having to lean on us. A few weeks after mom's surgery, Me Maw passed away. As much as I hated to see Me Maw suffer the way she did, I am glad that we were able to say good bye to her. It sounds greedy, and I'm glad Dad didn't suffer, but if he had I would have been able to say goodbye. But, it wasn't God's plan for us to say goodbye. So, now we had to go through yet another funeral. I kept telling myself that God was still in control.
As I look forward to 2011, I think of all the struggles we've had and I thank God for getting us through it all. God is truly molding me into the woman he wants me to become. He is changing me daily, and I am so thankful for it. If I had one life lesson to take from this year it would be that nothing on this Earth matters. Life on Earth is so short, and we need to be making the most of it for God. I think of the scripture in James 4.."You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." If our life here on Earth is only a mist compared to eternity, then we should stop building our self up in this world and begin building our self up in the things of God. I want to make a difference for God this year!
We are now in the process of buying our first home together. We were hoping to close before the new year, but that didn't happen. Again, our ways are not God's. He apparently had a different plan. I know there is a reason for everything, and in due time God may slowly reveal the reasons for these things in our life. And if God chooses not to reveal the reasons, then I will continue to trust that He does know best. Although I will miss our apartment..where Seth and I first started our marriage..I am so looking forward to a house that we can call our own. I am so ready for a fresh start on a new year!!
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| This is my favorite picture so far this year! |
Dana
You are a dear sweet lady Dana and I love you until our lives end! =]
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