Friday, December 31, 2010

Walk With Me Through 2010...

Here we are again: another year has passed and a new one is beginning. 2010 has certainly been a memorable year! I think I would sum it up by saying that 2010 has been life changing. It's crazy to me how much life has changed since this time last year. All of the changes have been good and amazing things, and I praise God for His unending blessings!

In January, I was able to celebrate my sweet friend Lindsey's birthday with a fun 1920s-themed murder mystery party! A group of our friends got dressed up and got into character; it was such a fun way to celebrate her birthday. I was still pondering the book we had read in our Bible study group- Crazy Love. I was challenged to take an inventory of my heart and examine whether or not I was truly living my life for Him. My sinful heart has made that process slow, but God has graciously walked with me and has continued chipping away things in my life that would prevent me from truly understanding the depth of His love and living in a way that reflects that understanding.

I had a really fun 25th Birthday in February. From skipping the Super Bowl to hang out with Laura to sushi and a flat tire with my brother, and from a yummy cake and balloon from Lindsey to a 20s birthday serenade at On the Border, it was definitely a blessed birthday! It's funny to read old blog posts of how I felt like 25 was going to be a good year and how excited I was to see what the Lord had in store for me :) I had my last ophthalmology appointment and was completely cleared of my swollen optic nerves (praise God!), and we received 12.5 inches of snow!

March was busy! With a singles outing to a hockey game, the Phantom of the Opera, Pine Cove Work Crew, the Josh Turner concert, the Baylor Bears basketball teams in the Sweet 16, and the start of Nica team meetings, there was plenty to focus on. March is also when the Lord asked me to continue simplifying and remove TV from my life. That was hands down one of the best decisions I have ever made. I don't miss it at all, and it has freed up so much extra time to spend with Him.

Mike and I had our first date in April. It wasn't public on my blog until July (it was just a first date, after all haha)...but this was the beginning of life change #1. Little did I know what the next 8 months would entail :) I also celebrated my 1 year anniversary at work in April. I have blogged a lot in the past few months of how that initial honeymoon stage of having a job has worn off and how some days are a struggle to find joy in my work. But the Lord was (and has been) patiently teaching me many things- mainly that it's not about me (shocker, I know), and that His purposes are higher and better than anything I am facing.

I started recognizing and praying against some of those seeds of discontent in May. I am so thankful for the blessing of having a job- a good job with a great boss- so I persevere and wait on God's timing and pray that I don't miss opportunities to be a part of the kingdom work He is accomplishing now and in this place. It seems that every time I start struggling with something, the Lord provides a sweet blessing in the midst of it. In May, that blessing was a fun mini-vacation to California with Laura. I was able to tack on some PTO days to an existing work conference and use my Southwest rewards to fly Laura out to meet me. We had such a great time, and I was so thankful for the girl time with a sweet friend!

Life change #2 came in June with my trip to Nicaragua. I have blogged a ton in the months following that trip...the Lord answered so many prayers and broke my heart in so many ways while I was in Nicaragua, and He has continued whispering to my heart since then. It was impossible for me to walk away unchanged, and I am so grateful to Jesus for the opportunity to go. I was so blessed by the people I met and the chance I had to see what God is accomplishing there. I am praying about whether the Lord will allow me to go back in 2011; whether He does or not, Nica will always be on my heart, and I pray I never forget the sweet time with the Lord I had during and since that trip.

In July, I had the opportunity to trust the Lord with finances, as I received my medical bills from my ER visit after Nicaragua. No bueno :( It was overwhelming and discouraging at first, but the Lord has been faithful to provide (as He always is) and I am finally almost at the end of my payments. Oh, and Mike and I became blog-official in July haha.

We had our 20s annual Lake Day in August, and I did a little bit of traveling and catching up with sweet friends. Laura and I took a road trip down to San Antonio to visit our friend Nicki! She lives in Virginia, so we don't get to see her as often as we'd like to, so it was nice to spend some time with her. I had a work trip to Atlanta and was randomly able to catch up with my sweet friend Shannon. She was my hall director while I was a Community Leader at Baylor; she was such a sweet blessing to me during college, and I was excited to re-connect with her!

September is when I realized Sasha was insane (ok, maybe I knew it before but I actually admitted it in September), so I started focusing on training her better. We still have a long way to go, but she has made so much progress in the last couple of months. I also put my cooking skills to the test and successfully made chicken enchiladas for Mike! I just feel like that single accomplishment is worth mentioning because my cooking skills are really bad leave a lot to be desired :) I should probably work on that in 2011...

Things were really crazy and stressful at work in October. The Lord was definitely teaching me to depend on and find my rest with Him. And yet there were so many things (as always) to be thankful for! We were able to rejoice with Jon and Sami over the arrival of Evangeline Claire- she is such a precious baby girl, and I am excited to watch her grow! Mike and I celebrated our 6 month anniversary, and he got the opportunity to go home to San Antonio with me to spend some time with my parents.

I was in study mode for most of November. However, in the midst of the studying, I was able to enjoy a quick trip down to Waco to see a Baylor football game with some college friends. God graciously allowed me to pass my second CPCU exam, and I was happy to have that behind me, especially before the holidays.

December is for sure a memorable month this year! :) Sweet Laura celebrated her 25th birthday, our church hosted the Ross King concert...and Mike and I got engaged on 12-11-10 :) I think back over the last year and am absolutely amazed at all the Lord has done. I praise God for the work He has done in my heart and continues to do on my journey toward His heart. I praise God for the incredible blessing of sweet friends, family, and an incredible husband-to-be. I am really looking forward to all of the new changes ahead and can't wait to marry Mike and walk through life with him. I praise God for His constant provision and faithfulness to me throughout the year, and I look forward to all He has for me us in 2011!

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