So long, 2011

I just said good bye to my mom and dad at the airport.  Even as a 33-year-old, I still cry like a little girl when it is time to say good-bye.  We just had one of our best visits this past week.

It's time for me to slow down for a minute and reflect on the past year.  A lot has happened.

• Officially went into "remission" from depression for the first time in, oh, about 15 years

• Started a blog

• Learned more about how to be in a more Godly marriage, and celebrated 10 years of marriage

• Persevered through the discovery of my son's food allergies beginning with all the symptoms that go with it, to the diagnosis and treatment, and his rapid improvement of afore-mentioned symptoms

• Watched the same son {with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss} go from vocally expressing everything by saying "Ng, ng, ng," to telling us things like, "No, Ezra not go to bed!"

• Decided to take our daughter from a private Lutheran school to enrollment in our local public school, to the decision to homeschool

• Also enrolled our son in pre-school, then decided to keep him home and homeschool

• Found friends and supports in unexpected places and times; re-connecting with some, deepening relationships with others, and learning how to BE a better friend and support to others

• Found out that a close relative and one of my best friends has metastasized breast cancer.  Learning how to handle this kind of news as one of God's children and the impact it has on my daily life

• Got to know my cousins in a much more involved and connected way

• Joined a life group with our church and made family friends for life

• Learned how quickly and completely God answers prayers that I have offered up over the future of our family

• Provided a haven for a family member experiencing monumental and life altering changes

• Visited long time friends who moved a day's drive away after having been geographically separated for several years

• Had a bomb of a summer sale, and not like "the BOMB" but more like "it bombed."

• Planted a new garden and spent many beautiful days working outside, enjoying the period of life where my kids can play and help and constant vigil does not have to be kept for grass, chalk, or dog dropping eating

• Loved my husband for the sacrifices he makes in supporting his family

• Watched my first-born daughter become a caring, conscientious big sister who loves and looks out for her brothers {most of the time}

• Re-discovered the joy of entertaining, cooking, giving, celebrating

• Lived a second year renting my parent's beautiful home, across the street from family, with awesome neighbors

• Lost 15 pounds, changing long-held dietary habits

• Experienced peace from the Lord in a depth that was completely new and profound

In all these things, there is so much more that could be said.  It has been an amazing year, full of good and bad, but one that makes my heart full and thankful.  I look ahead with anticipation and great expectation because of the greatness of my God and His Power to 2012.