Back...with many new changes on the way!

It has been a VERY LONG time since I have updated my blog. I realize there are few people that keep up with my sporadic and random ramblings but to those who happen to browse every now and then I apologize for my lack of updates. So much has happened since my last post. I have attempted to update my blog a couple of different times but for some reason decided not to post them.

With the new year under way I am going to try and be a little more consistent with my posts and keep those few followers updated. My life will soon be taking a new turn as I quickly approach the new adventures of a first time MOM!

Here is a quick recap of the past 11 months:

*In May I celebrated my 30th Birthday. I was dreading the big day but all in all it wasn't so bad. I had a great time celebrating it in Omaha at Magnolia Hotel, enjoying some delicious dinners and drinks at the Old Market and had a wonderful time with friends at the Henry Doorly Zoo!

*June turned out to be a very exciting month...Tim and I found out we were due to have a baby in February. We are both still in awe that this little miracle is going to join us in a couple of weeks!

*In June and July we were blessed with amazing trips with both sides of our families. We stayed at a beautiful beach home on the coast of Oregon with Tim's family and spent a week in a cabin at Kawishiwi Lodge in Northern Minnesota with my family. We were very fortunate to have two amazing trips planned before our little one arrives.

*I started back to school in the fall and was very happy that my 1st trimester had come to an end before I had to keep up with 28 third graders!

At this point Tim and I have enjoyed preparing for out little girls arrival and anxiously anticipating all the new changes that will come with a tiny baby. We feel so blessed and still find ourselves in awe of God's amazing miracle. The day we found out we were expecting we had signed up to attend an informational meeting on adoption. Before signing up for the meeting Tim and I had many conversations about our desire for a family and spent a lot time in prayer. We had finally surrendered our journey for a family and placed it in God's hands. We were open to what God had planned for us and not what we thought should be planned for us. That day God opened our eyes and answered our prayer in a way that at one point we thought might be impossible.

Here is to a year of keeping up with my blog and embarking on the new adventures of motherhood!

Refinement

I am sure you have noticed a pattern in my last couple blogs. Life in a standstill, seeking contentment, questioning my purpose, desiring God's will and plan etc. Today I am thankful for my trials, I am thankful for God's patience with me, I am thankful that he will never give up on me, I am thankful each day he draws me closer and closer to him through my everyday circumstances. It is so easy to say God is great. God's plan is perfect. The part that gets tricky and sometimes messy is the application and truly living it out(especially on those dark days). Every person I come in contact with has the opportunity to see Christ in me whether it is through my actions or words. They have the opportunity to see Christ in me during the good and bad times. Lets face it we are human and no matter what, we are going to have bad days. It's those days that we can choose to wallow in disappointment and self pity or we can stop, pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and be thankful that we are saved. We have to be mindful to move past the focus on "me" and move on to the focus of serving Christ through our relationships with others. This life has nothing to do with me but it has everything to do with God's Kingdom and if I get too caught up in "my" life I begin to miss the whole point. I am here to be a living example of Christ and to allow others to know Christ through my life and my example. God has me at the exact place he wants me and I am here to serve him abundantly in my everyday life as a wife, teacher, friend, daughter, and sister. I am so glad God has brought me to this place and continues to refine my life.

"I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. Psalm 145: 1-3