What's in a Year?

Let me first say that the past few years have been intense...not just this year. That being said, I'm moved to tears as I reflect on 2014.
During this year, I've completely unpacked from our "fake move". I've watched my little man be a 10-year-old and my baby girl be a 7-year-old. What a joy each individual year and stage is?!?! I'm beside myself that my baby will be EIGHT in a week, but that's another post. This year, I got to celebrate my sister's 40th birthday! It was SO much fun!!
This year, I've had the amazing experience of watching our family's dreams unfold in front of us, particularly my husband's. I experienced the heartbreaking goodbyes and trips to the airport as he commuted and was far from us most of the time. I had the privilege of spending Independence Day in St Louis. They know how to celebrate freedom!!! I experienced my oldest being baptized.
This year, I experienced almost missing being with my man on his birthday, although he managed to make it home with an hour to spare. And then, I walked through what seemed impossible to process at the time when my man resolved that the dream we'd all worked up to was, in fact, just not right (no link for that because I couldn't figure out how to write about it). Admittedly, I was thrown. I was so happy to have him home. SO HAPPY!!! And-I was a bit confused and lost.

This photo (one of my all-time favorites) was taken at Oktoberfest - an event that wouldn't have happened for us had he not come back to Tulsa. I think my "happy" shows. :)

After the summer that will go down in our history books,came a resolution to stay put for a long while!!! With that, the plan to buy a home. The journey to where we are with housing is an entire chapter in itself, but to say the least, this was a HUGE thing. This was something we didn't think we'd be able to do again anytime soon. It was something that scared us more than just about anything on the planet. It would also require significant sacrifice from all four of us, if we wanted to do this anytime this century. This year, we got to set the kids down and ask for their participation in buying a house. And guys, we are scheduled to close early this week!!
Can I be honest for a moment? I'm scared out of my mind to put that in writing. If you've known our family very long, you know that what seems right and true and perfect often seems falls apart at the seams. I'll admit, we always wind up winners, but at the time, it really sucks. I've questioned and cried and whined and downright screamed. . . but through all of that, God has taught me to let go of my control, my crippling control, and trust Him. And trust my husband. So, thank you in advance for your thoughts and prayers this week and thank you so much for sharing this year with us!!!

It's been an amazing year...and I'm admittedly pretty excited that it's almost over. Just a couple more days of packing and unpacking. . . .

Praise God for 2015!  I'm so thankful for new mercies and new opportunities!!!

Don't you love this beauty from Carla Gorecki Design and Photography?!?

Linking up with ember grey for #gratefulheart monday!