Year 5: New Beginnings

To celebrate our 4th anniversary Ada stayed at the grandparents, and we did a mini stay-cation at home. On Friday night I made shrimp alfredo for dinner and we watched a movie. The next day David packed an amazing gormet picnic. We ate in the city center enjoying all the lovely Christmas decorations downtown and the gorgeous weather (in MS you can have a picnic and Christmas decorations at the same time!). The food was amazing, but my favorite part was that he had carefully packed little love notes throughout the picnic basket. It was such a surprise as I unpacked the food! Then we each picked an activity to do together. I chose the art Museum which was really fun with David because he could explain the various artists' styles and techniques to me. David chose mini-golf which I had not done since I was in high school. It turned out to be a blast, and we were able to just relax and be silly and laugh a lot! He beat me, but only by 3. ;-) We were very blessed, and the year ahead was filled with new beginnings ...

That was the year that we welcomed Benjamin into our family!

I will never forget the feeling of holding him for the first time. There are literally no words to describe it. I was overwhelmed with love for this new little person!

It was an amazing blessing to have Gramaw with us for the birth as well! (This is one of my favorite pictures ... ever!)

Grandma certainly made the transition home so much easier!


It was beyond wonderful to have her there to help out
& to join us in celebrating Benjamin's arrival!
It was also a very special time because she really bonded with Ada!
Since that visit, Ada has talked excitedly about "Gramaw" and
regularly asks to go see her in Tukrey!

We dedicated Benjamin to the Lord a few months later,
which was a very special event for our family!
We were so blessed to have Gramps, Grammie, and Ompak with us!

It was wonderful to be able to dedicate Benjamin to the Lord, but it was also a time when David & I were dedicating ourselves to the Lord again. During that year we knew that our time in seminary was coming to a close, and we struggled to hear God's voice and discern what the next steps for us would be. As we prayed about what to do, we gave ourselves, our marriage, and our family to the Lord once again. We found such peace when we were able to surrender ourselves and wholeheartedly commit to follow and serve Him. These months of prayer and seeking brought us much closer together as a couple, and renewed our calling. It was a tremendous blessing to see that God's plan unfold that year as we stepped out in faith. We feel so grateful for the way that God continues to lead us on this journey!

Next week ... Year 6!