If I could pick one word to describe this year I would choose full. It was full of new adventures, lovely people, brave steps, and immense heartbreak. Honestly, I didn't realize a year could hold so many emotions, processes, and experiences. But this one did.
It started off with a bang with a move to our first "grown up" house. It was a sweet step and it held a lot of hope for us. With more space we could occupy we knew our family would grow. Almost a year later we are still filling our home and making it ours and we are still hoping for new additions to the family but this house has been perfect, even just for us. It's held some incredible memories and sheltered us when life threw some tough blows. I had no idea how important this home would be to me until now. I'm so thankful for this refuge known as the Craig House.
We also welcomed our little nephew, Jett Anthony. That little man has been a light in our life this year. He is so full of joy and has a smile that could knock you dead. Waiting on him new years eve made for some special memories. And then God smiled on our year and sent him on Jan 1st. What a sweet gift. I knew then that this year was going to be special.
Midway through the year life handed us a goody basket of awesomeness. In a months time we were ordained, offered a position as youth pastors for our conference, and embarked on a journey of opening a women's center here in our home town all while our home youth group began to flourish and grow. For a minute we just stopped and looked around and all we could say was "Whoa. Thank you God." I've never seen so many fulfilled promises happen all at once yet we were standing right in the middle of all of it. Even today I'm still humbled- although now I realize the weight of what God entrusted us with.
This last part of the year has really taken my heart on a roller coaster, though. I've had moments, and in all sincerity still have these moments, of questioning. Questioning faith, God, myself, life. Loss, in my opinion, has a way of handing you a bitter bowl of reflection. You could even say it's the thing that will put you face to face with who you are and what you believe and will demand an answer. When Moriah passed away I felt as if all of the breath left my body. The excitement I had a couple of months before immediately diminished and devastation set in. This one event has consumed these last few months. Although great things have been happening I have had to allow time to process, be angry, cry, and- as weird as this is- laugh. All of those things were attached to her.
I'm still broken, I can't lie about that. I still cry everyday, maybe not as long but tears still come. But man, how blessed am I to be surrounded by an amazing support system. I wish you had the people around you that I do. My life is so rich and filled with people who are willing to hold my hand, listen to my rantings, and kick me in the butt when I need to get over myself. That's some quality friendship, folks.
2014 has been full. Sitting here today with only a few days left of this year I can confidently say that I lived in this year fully. I occupied it, used it, and I'm thankful to see the end.
2015 is sure to be fun. We are starting off big and attending our first Foster Parent class in January. Then we head off to youth conferences, and youth events.We celebrate 2 years of marriage, and the best two years of my life. We will be working extra hard to get The Cinderella House open.
Most of all we are going to keep moving. I don't know what unexpected things 2015 is going to bring, I don't know what joys and what hurts are ahead of us. But I'm ready to move forward and start something new.
Thank you readers for being a part of this year and all of it's transitions with us. Your emails, messages, comments, and even just the fact that you have been faithful to reading has been amazing and humbling. I pray this year is full of life, love and hope for you and your family!
Merry Christmas guys! And a HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY New Year!