Reflections of a Year - 2008

Wow! I can't believe that 2008 is drawing to a close. It's funny to me that as a child it seemed to take forever for Christmas to get here but the older I get the faster Christmas rolls around each year.


2008 has been a good year filled with blessings from God on high.


January - Jarrod and I prepared for our mission trip to Mexico. The excitement was building as we completed our fundraising efforts and travel plans.


February - A group of us from New Life, including myself and Jarrod, traveled to Mexico with Faith and Works on a mission trip. This was my second trip and Jarrod's first. What an awesome opportunity! God touched my life in so many ways during this trip. We also began Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University at church. This program has been such a blessing to us and I am so thankful for the lessons we've learned and applied to our lives through Dave's program.


March - I spent March in the whirlwind of tax season. I'm thankful that God has given me a skill that I can use to help provide for my family and I'm thankful for my job. Especially in these tough economic times.


April - We were saddened by the sudden loss of Darren's cousin, Stephanie. It's so important for us to remember that God doesn't promise us another day, or even another hour. Life is so fleeting. Spend it doing the things that really matter....spend it in the service of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Also, Jacob turned 9 years old. He is growing up so fast!


May - Darren and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary. We have officially spent half of our lives together. I'm so thankful for the man God blessed me with and look forward to growing old with him! We were also especially thankful that my brother-in-law made it home safely from his one year tour of duty in Iraq and we are grateful to God for protecting him from harm.


June - Gospel Man & Bible Boy consumed much of our June. We were busy filming videos starring our two heroes for Vacation Bible School. We also spent a weekend at Sugarloaf Family Camp where a bunch of us from New Life took care of the children's program.


July - What a busy month! Camp and Vacation Bible School. I pray that we we're able to touch the lives of lots of kids and plant seeds of salvation through our efforts.


August - Darren and I made a solo trip to Delmarva, Deleware to preach at Delmarva Family Camp. We really enjoyed ourselves and are looking forward to returning in a couple of years. This was the first trip we had taken without the kids since Jarrod was about 1 year old! Also of note this month was the beginning of school. My firstborn began his freshman year at Fleming County High School. Wow, where does the time go?


September - Amy and I began our weekly Bible study. We talked about doing this while we were in Mexico together but it took us until now to get around to it. This study and our fellowship has become one of the things I look forward to most each week. I'm so thankful for Amy and our friendship.


October - We began another season of Bible Bowl and both of our teams had good results at our first round robin. It was great to see the kids so excited about what they had accomplished. My baby turned 4 this month. I can't believe 4 years have come and gone since Noah came into my life. Thoughts of him can always bring a smile to my face.


November - We kicked off our new women's group at church. Ladies 2for2 is a ministry striving to fulfill the mission and promises of Acts 2:42-47. I am so excited to see what God has planned for New Life through this wonderful group of ladies. Also, Jarrod turned 15! 365 days and counting until the dreaded driver's permit!


December - We presented two performances of "Hallelujah! Jesus is Born!" at church. This was our first attempt at a musical during our time at New Life. I thoroughly enjoyed it and we didn't sound half bad if I do say so myself. I hope our program brought glory to God. We enjoyed Christmas with both sides of our family and at home. It was so nice to be with everyone and to see loved ones that live away.

As I look back over the year I see so many things to praise God for. Health, home, family, friends, jobs, and opportunities to serve. God is so good! I look forward to seeing what God has in store for us in the coming year and I pray that He uses us in a big way!

Wishing all of you a very Happy New Year! May God bless and keep you all!

Our Example

Lately at New Life we've been heavily involved in a big push toward evangelism. We started several months ago going through a Bible study called First Principles and we currently have 3 groups meeting and 1 more beginning in January. Darren and I are involved in one of the groups on Tuesday nights. Jarrod always stays home and keeps Jacob and Noah while we go to the study. I didn't know it but apparently Noah is very aware of where we are and what we are doing on Tuesday evenings.

Yesterday was my day off and Noah and I went to church to pick Darren up and go to lunch at his mother's house. Before we left the house, Noah told me to wait and ran back into his room to get his "My First Bible." He told me he needed to take his Bible because he was going to have a Bible study. I asked him who he was going to have a Bible study with and he said, "Daddy." I said, "Oh, so Daddy is going to teach you about the Bible?" He said, "No. I'm going to teach Daddy." I started laughing and said, "So you think you know more than Daddy?" He said, "Yes." So I said, "Tell me everything you know about the Bible." He looked at me and said, "Jesus is Lord!"

I guess that pretty much sums it up, huh? It's amazing what little ones pick up on. What a wonderful reminder to be mindful of the example we are setting for the little eyes and ears that watch and listen so closely to our lives.