Happy 2008! Here's to Great Beginnings!

Well what a year! It has truly been an adventure for us.We've been realizing how much God loves us and has planned for us.
Well as most of you know we have had a year of loss and a year of spiritual gain. We lost my great grandma, Reva this year and we also lost Jim's grandma, Verna. We know that this was God's plan and they both loved the Lord and are in a better place. We have also had a year of joy and grief. One of my good friends finally got pregnant but then found out that she had lost a twin. While she's still pregnant and due in March this was hard news to bear. Another of our friends was 12 weeks along and lost her baby boy. She too is pregnant again and is expecting a girl in May. Oh the plans He has for us!!
We've had more signs that God knows what he's doing, Jim and I decided last November that we were ready to have a baby so we started trying. By July I was concerned and we did some testing but everything came back fine. The next step would cost us a lot of money and we decided that we weren't that desperate and we'd been told that the test would probably come back fine so we decided to just wait for God. Well we're still waiting but I have started to see God's reasoning. It would be very beneficial for me to not have to go back to work after having another child, this isn't possible until I've worked for 5 years so that my Perkins loan is forgiven. I still have 1year and 4 months left before that can happen. It seems to me at this time that God is just making sure that I can do that.
In the mean time we're thoroughly enjoying spending time with Alexa. She never ceases to amaze me. Her vocabulary is expanding more every day. I'm doing my best to start that good english from the beginning. I'll correct her and she must be paying attention because the next time she makes the same grammar mistake she will correct herself. She keeps us very busy. Just when you think that sleeping in is going to become the normal she wakes up at 6:30am. While we have the dual paychecks we're also trying to enjoy what we have and fix up our house so that we don't have to do it then. Although if we did everything that we truly wanted to I'd be working full-time until retirement!! You never have everything, there's always something more. Contentment is a lesson that God and I are still working on.
Well I hope that this year brings all of you contentment and happiness. I pray that God is with you every day and you see his love show in everything that you do. We love you all. Happy New Year!