Tuesday, December 29, 2009

2009--A Year of Blessings

I stumbled upon a blog that participated in Gratituesday, and she had reflected on 2009 and her top 10 blessings. Well, I'm going to follow along and reflect and list my top 10 blessings of 2009.

#1. Our 2nd son, Dawson Daniel, born March 3rd. What an amazing little guy he is! He has brought so much joy and fun to us. We love that he is a big little guy who just lights up and giggles every time he sees his big brother. :)

#2. My wonderful husband. He has been such a rock for me in this year of constant change. We faced many challenges this year that would have driven a wedge between other couples, and I know that those challenges just brought us closer together and made our love for one another stronger than ever. I praise God for Renato every day!

#3. Camden. This little man is teaching me a lot too. Parenting can bring out both the best in us, and at times the worst. I'm learning every day to lean on God more than ever with my parenting skills. Camden is such a strong little leader. He loves to laugh and every day I do laugh with him in my life. I know God has amazing things planned for Camden's life!!

#4. Our rental house that we are living in right now. After constant transition for the past 2 years, along with living with family and friends for over 11 months of that, I am sooo very thankful for our own house, and our own space. (and my own kitchen!!!) :)

#5. Our time spent living in Brazil. I learned so many valuable lessons from God in the past 2 years. I know that without living in Brazil, I would never have learned them.

#6. Family and friends. Both of our families were such blessings to us this past year. We were able to live with Renato's parents for the last month we were in Brazil, and we were able to live with my parents for almost 5 months before moving to Colorado. HUGE blessings!! God has been teaching us about friends and what it really means to be friends. We are so thankful for our friends who have loved and supported us. We are blessed!

#7. Living back in Colorado Springs...and actually back in our same neighborhood! After living in a different culture with a different language, and with different (and scary) driving, and being mostly completely dependent on my husband for everything, you have no idea how thankful I am to be able to get out on my own and be able to understand everything that is around me.

#8. My dishwasher, clothes dryer, stove/oven, and fridge. After living a yr. and a half without a dishwasher or clothes dryer, I am SOOOO thankful for them and how easy they make my life. I'm thankful for my stove/oven because it's big (I can fit more than one pan in at a time) and it has a digital tempurature gage, unlike my teeny/tiny stove/oven in Brazil that didn't have a temperature setting. And I'm so thankful for a BIG new fridge with a big freezer too....that actually freezed food. :)

#9. A wonderful Queen sized bed to sleep on, and a bed for Camden, and a crib for Dawson. The bed we had in Brazil was a full-sized, foam mattress on a slat bed. Not very comfy. Camden had been sleeping on the floor since June...not that he complained at all. And we haven't had a crib for our boys to sleep in since we sold the one Camden had before we moved. So beds are a HUGE blessing!!

#10. My husband's business that he just started. Renato just started his own painting business 2 months ago. God's favor is on him as he has had many jobs come his way, and many great connections too. I just know that God is going to bless Renato and this business to not only provide for our family, but also fund our on-going ministry.

2009 was definitely a tough year of constant change and transition, but we have grown so much through all of the challenges. I can't wait to see what God has in store for us in 2010!!!

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