Ten years

Ten years ago tonight, Mike and I got in the car and drove to Decatur to have supper at Sweetie Pie's Ribeyes.  The fact that I can remember how much I enjoyed my steak and the red velvet cake is amusing, but I was pregnant and red meat was a constant craving and what goes better with steak than a fat slice of cream cheese frosted cake? Exactly.

It was New Year's Eve, we were merely hours away from welcoming 2010.  We enjoyed each other's company, I remember it was cold that night even for hot-natured me.  We reflected on the year that was wrapping up, all of life's roller coaster rides that led us to that night. We were about to become parents after what felt like 18 months of persistent challenges.  Little did we know, that journey to parenthood would be a precursor to all the future crazy that led us to tonight. 

God has blessed us abundantly, don't get me wrong about that, but mercy, the last decade has been intense at times.

As I reflect in a quiet house, (RJ is in bed, Hank is at Camp Nana and Papa and Mike is out of town for work - holiday deploys are the best, said no one ever!) the last decade has been a pretty amazing ride.  Ten years ago, it was just the two of us, baby on the way and we had a three-legged pup.  Now, we have two beautiful children, a host of bonus babies, three dogs with all their legs intact, and a pretty awesome history behind us.  I won't lie though, a slab of red velvet cake and a steak with a baked potato would be the perfect way to come full circle and round out the decade.

Not only have our responsibilities grown, but we've grown personally.  This year, Mike hit the 25th year in his career and he's done nothing but make me proud of his growth in knowledge and skills.  Earlier this year, he literally had 4 job opportunities to mull over.  Pretty cool to see people wanting him on their team.  I'm proud of him and I pray that he always knows how much I respect his hard work and dedication to be successful.  Plus, he has fun in his work and generally enjoys the people he works with.  That's definitely a win!  Ten years later, I'm no longer in the corporate world, which is something I wouldn't have thought would happen for me.  Admittedly, I never felt quite fulfilled professionally outside of making a living.  I always felt like there was more than a healthy paycheck to the hard work. I liked the work and the people, but I was always longing for something more substantial.  In 2016, Mike accepted a new job and we were able to make it with just one income, allowing me to stay home with our kids.  We were actively fostering a little girl and Henry was just finishing kindergarten, that was an amazing summer!  It wasn't perfect, I certainly didn't have it easy every day, but I knew in my heart that home was where I needed to be for that season.  We were eventually matched up with Ruby and the rest as they say, is history.  I needed to be home and all-in in order for any of that to have happened.   As of October 2018, I joined our church staff and have cherished my time serving over the preschool ministry, working with our littlest attenders and their families.   While I've wanted to work for the church in the past, this was a bit of a curve ball and a scary leap of faith, but God has guided our family and we've all grown immensely from vocational ministry. 

We've traveled a few times over the past 10 years between road trips to Houston, Fredericksburg, Austin, Shreveport and Broken Bow to further destinations like Playa del Carmen and Washington D.C.  Mike and Henry have made a couple of trips to Nebraska to watch dirt track races and I'm sure they are scheming for another trip soon.  We are looking forward to taking more trips with the kids now that they are getting older.  One of us is adventurous and the other is a bit of a home body, but we're finding a better compromise as time goes on. 

We've grown in our spiritual faith tremendously as well.  While I grew up in church for the most part, it wasn't until July 2010 where I felt like the Lord was really, truly calling me to follow Him.  I had all this head knowledge, even having graduated from a Baptist university, but in that service on that day, I knew what God was asking me to do, that He wanted me to fully trust Him and essentially get out of His way so that He could be the Lord of my life.  Best decision I've ever made.  The past
 9+ years of being a Christian hasn't been a cake walk, no good days were promised on the day of salvation, but knowing that there's a bigger plan out there that I don't necessarily need to be privy to every single detail?  Why yes, that IS freeing!   As for Mike, he's stepped out in faith in various ways including using his training and skills working behind the scenes at church.  He's also been active in our Sunday School class and now more so than ever as a staff husband.  I can't speak for him directly, but I know he's been challenged by this new role and is growing as well.  I'm proud of him and thankful for his sacrifices so that I can follow this calling. 

We still live in our first home that we bought in 2008 during our first year of marriage.  This is coincidentally the longest I've ever had the same address in my entire life which is pretty neat.  We've made changes and improvements along the way: new floors in the living spaces, updated the UGLY kitchen into a place that I actually enjoy being in (y'all, the countertops were maroon and black, I'm not even kidding.  There was also linoleum on the floors that was starting to peel. Icky!), we planted a beautiful tree in the front yard and even added a giant wooden play set in the backyard.  At one time we even had washer pits for weekend parties.  We certainly miss shenanigan-filled late nights with our friends and family.  Maybe someday we can recreate some of those good times. 

While 2019 wasn't as crazy as some years recently, it was one filled with growth and change, good and bad.  Life isn't always sunshine and rainbows, but God's been there each step of the way.  Maybe shaking His head at us sometimes, but we are incredibly thankful.  The 2010s were full of challenges and obstacles, but I'm hoping that at least more of the time going forward, we are able to enjoy the fruits of our labor, find stability in the ever changing chaos of life and continue building a life that we enjoy and love.  Cheers to 2020 and the new decade ahead!