Day 114: A Full Year

It's funny to me how melancholy I seem to get at this time of year.  Not sad or depressed.  Perhaps retrospective is a better word.  I find myself looking back over the year, remembering things with joy or sorrow, tenderness, fondness, and perhaps even a desire to turn the clock back and relive, redo, retouch some moments.

It was an incredibly full year.  It has been our first full calendar year with the girls.  They have grown from wearing a size 18 months to a 3T in one year, gaining almost 10 pounds and 5 inches.  That just seems phenomenal to me.  Of course they have grown in so many other ways as well.  Their little hearts are healing and we get to see it lived out.  Love does indeed heal.  I wish I could make a list of all the little things they do that I love, but I suppose the ones at the top of the list would be the way they greet me in the mornings, the way they pray for healing for others, and the way they prance around in their little "click-clacks" putting on chapstick.

Zack got engaged to such an incredible girl.  They will get married in just a few short days, and he will no longer be ours.  He will be hers.  They will be "them" not "us."  That's a little hard to adjust my mind to, though certainly I am happy for him, for them.

Jacob was in and out all year long.  It's kind of weird having him be away at school AGAIN.  But, he's getting on with his life, working on a career that he will enjoy (someday, when he finishes with school!)  He's been incredibly sweet to come home for really special occasions, though he's had to make a 3 hour trip every time.

Mike quit his job and started his own pest control company called Maximum Pest Control.  I'm gonna need all of you to call him and have him start treating your homes (shameless plug?  Absolutely).  He's loving it most days, though owning your own business is always such hard work and STARTING one is even harder.

We filed for permanent legal custody of the girls in August.  It feels a little like we took our seats, strapped ourselves in, pulled down the safety bar across our laps and are holding on for dear life as we ride this crazy ride.  God knows (and He's the only one!) how this thing will all end.  So we just live each day like we're going to have them forever.

I left Children's ministry this year too.  After a LOT of years doing it, I moved over to Adult Ministry.  It's been a weird time of transition for sure.  And I miss it sometimes.  Not as in, "I wish I was doing Children's Ministry" miss it, just I miss the comfort and ease of doing something that I can do in my sleep. :)

Oh yeah, and I ran a marathon!  Holy Cow!  And my body is still paying the price of that!  Well, my right foot is! (I'm fairly sure I just exceeded the use of the exclamation point as a form of punctuation.)  Hopefully my right foot will heal soon, and I will run again soon.  My brain needs it.

All that to say, it's been a full year.  And 2012 holds promises yet to be discovered.