This was a powerful year.

We had a beautiful baby girl – Rebekah Taylor.  She has simply the sweetest spirit I’ve ever known.  She is a joy and such an easy wonderful happy baby.   She has these big dark green eyes and big bright smile – she is completely captivating to me.  I adore her.  I feel like I hold this amazing secret because I know this heart and I get to see others get to know her and fall in love with her too.

Our bright and beautiful Grace continues to delight us.  She is a funny, creative, energetic, joyful little girl.  She challenges me to my core because she is very similar to me (strong willed does not even begin to describe our daughter), and watching her grow and learn at an astonishing speed is priceless.  I love this child and still can’t get over that the Lord gave her to us to parent.

We moved out of Grapevine into Keller into our first real “home” as a married couple.  We love this house, love this area, and love the new opportunities a new home and neighborhood offer.

We watched our beautiful girls turn into SISTERS, completely answering my prayer of companionship for Grace.  Grace is captivated by her sister, and vice versa.  They are precious and we feel so very blessed.

The Lord also showed his faithfulness as he provided incredible friends for me in 2009.  There are some girls, and some couple friends, he has given us who are absolutely a source of joy and encouragement.  These are not all of them, but these are a few of the wonderful people he has placed in our life in 2009 to hold us up.

We were faced with our largest trial as a married couple when Justin was laid off from the church where I continue to serve because of budget cuts.  (Although this was our reality, I want you to know that Justin and I do not live in bitterness or anger about this layoff – we understood the economic reality of their decision and God has freed us from any of that and I continue to enjoy serving the Lord at FBC Grapevine with a great staff who I dearly love.)

We were privileged, however, to have an opportunity to grow in our faith and trust in the Lord’s provision during this time.  When he was laid off, I began to do the “math” of our situation, and I didn’t know how we would be able to survive.  We, in our human understanding, thought the Lord would need to provide another full-time job for him immediately, and as Justin began to look, the reality of the economic climate in 2009 was daunting and discouraging.  But the Lord, as always, is faithful.  We have not missed any payments or had to sell anything and we have seen the nearness of our God during this time.  A revival has broken out in our hearts, both because of His faithfulness, and because of the incredible encouragement of His people.

Justin has had the amazing opportunity to serve most weekends at Keystone Church in 2009, and his freelance business has exploded.   So although the Lord’s provision doesn’t look the way we expected it to look, it has been more than sufficient.  His power has been made perfect in our weakness.  The Lord has laid our family, and our situation, on the hearts of many Keystone members, and in an amazing display of love and care, Keystone provided Christmas for our family.

This year, for me, has been a year of the Lord growing bigger in my perception, and me beginning to finally grasp a small amount of the truth I have known but not understood for so long.

The glory of God is my joy.  The glory of God is my good.  Jesus is all.

I have watched my friend and hero Matt Chandler face the greatest challenge of his life with grace and faith.  I have seen and experienced community in a way I never knew existed.  I have delighted and despaired in the beauty and challenge of parenting my daughters.  I have gotten to know and love my husband’s heart more as we’ve faced these challenges together.  I have been privileged to serve the Lord and pray that my service has been used for His glory.  I have gotten a glimpse of His glory and love in our life and in our home.

2009 has been powerful.  I am excited to see what 2010 brings.