The Last Supper of 2009

In looking back over this year, many things have changed for me.

In January, God convicted my heart about not reading Scripture on my own. I had to break down the barrier in my head that said I was too busy and that I got enough on Sunday. Thankfully, a professor from the college from which I graduated shared a wonderful system he created when he was a new believer 30 years ago. It opened my eyes to the closeness I was missing with God and am excited to continue.
In February, I found out I was pregnant with our second child.
March 4 was the anniversary of three years with Jeremy.
April contains the celebration of Passover and Easter. We celebrated a Passover Seder on our own this year and enjoyed remembering how God protected Israel despite their sin.
May was the first real year we celebrated Mother's Day... and I got tarps for my garden. Definitely not the most heartwarming gift, but definitely memorable and thoughtful.
In June, we found out that we were having another BOY!! At that time, we had picked out the name Jacob Mark and Rachel Beth-Moriah (if it was a girl). We also started a family tradition on Saturday mornings of riding our bikes together after breakfast (about 8 1/2 miles).
July was a very busy month with family visiting. It was a blessing to have Jeremy's parents for a week. They helped us with house projects and getting Jeremiah's new "big boy" room ready so we could have the nursery for our baby "Jacob", and I was able to get my gardens in order.
August was also very busy with doctor's appointments and dates and a trip to the State Fair. Someone had given us tickets for free... and we left them at home; but God provided us with the money to cover the tickets which we received when we checked the mail after we got home that evening.
September brought in the added busy-ness of library storytime for Jeremiah as well as Kindermusik and doctor's visits every other week.
In October, I turned 30 years old and was worrying about our baby arriving too early because of pre-term labor. I stopped riding my bike on doctor's orders.
November was Jeremy's birthday and hoping for a birthday baby. On the 16th, our son, JONAH MARK was born after a very short and easy labor.
December brings about the holiday season during which we were going to stay home and celebrate it on our own for lack of money for traveling to Pennsylvania like we normally do. The weekend before Christmas, though, we received two separate gifts of $200 each and we decided to make the trip after all. We were able to surprise Jeremy's family by landing on their doorstep Christmas Eve... and had a wonderful time!

God is faithful and God is good. It was a wonderful year... and I'm looking forward to what 2010 brings my family and me.