Welcome, 2011

A month ago, if you asked me if I would be "welcoming" in 2011, I would have probably thought you were crazy.  With all of the uncertainty that 2011 has to offer.... no thanks!  I'll stay with the tried and true, 2010.  Not that 2010 didn' t have its issues, but they were "known" issues.  They were ones that I had already dealt with.  I knew what they were and I was comfortable with them.  I was comfortable sitting in 2010 with my job being secure (up until the very end there), I was happy with my home (up until the very end there, when we had the "flood"... more about that later), I was happy with my kids - especially at the end there, when Sara was added to our family, I was happy with my husband - and still am - up until the end there when there was that flood (just kidding Tim - I'm still happy with ya!).  Then there was the end of the year, when our jobs became uncertain, decisions were hard to make because all of the information is not known yet, and not knowing what 2011 has in store for us.  It seemed difficult for me.

I'm a PLANNER!!!  If you didn't know that about me before, you know that about me now.  I plan my life.  Every last detail of it.  I look at situations and analyze them.  I have to... I think it's genetic!  I think I think of every possible scenario before I do something and then plan my escape route for all negative outcomes.  Tim doesn't do that.  He is a bit of a planner, but not as much as I am.  So when the work thing came, it hit me hard... a bit harder than Tim.  He can sit back, wait and see what happens.  In my mind, that would mean we are wasting time.  The house could be on the market, we could be interviewing - granted we could be missing out on an opportunity, but the sure thing is better than maybe something.  Anyway, so me and my "planning" self were having some difficulty with 2011 about a month ago. 

Then something happened.  I turned it all over to God and decided that God will place us where we need to be, when we need to be there.  If we have a job somewhere else that God wants us to be, He will make sure our house gets sold in an appropriate time frame (it's not on the market).  He'll let us know when it needs to be.  He'll make sure that it is something that will work out for both me and Tim, and more importantly, will be a place where the kids, Tim and I can continue to grow spiritually.  That's the most important thing after all.  Sure, we need money to take care of the physical things here on earth, but what is more important, is that God is leading us somewhere, where our relationship with Him will flourish.

2011 will be the first year in 3 years that we are not waiting on some portion of an adoption process.  I hate to say it, but I'm actually looking forward to that.  It  has been emotionally draining for the past three years waiting for our daughter to come home - and at times, even wondering where she would be coming home from.  We have some loose ends to tie up for the whole adoption, but our daughter is home!  That is all that matters.  I'm looking forward to watching her continue to settle into our family in 2011. 

We are planning on doing some traveling with the kids in 2011!  For the past three years, we have put off going on a major family vacation, due to the fact that we were always expecting to have to travel for the adoption.  Well, after three years, since that is complete, we will be able to go where we want to go.  We are looking forward to that for sure!

It's good to see the passing of 2010 for so many reasons.  I hate to think about another year of my life with my family gone, and I definitely do not wish the kids to get older, but this year has been a difficult one.  Que the flood story:

So, remember way back when - like in July, when we got the floors done?  Remember me climbing through bedroom windows for a week so I didn't have to stay at a hotel.  Remember me inhaling fumes for an entire week (admittedly, I kinda liked that :).  Remember me pushing a guide dog through a bedroom window?  Kids eating in the bedroom because they couldn't walk on the floors?  I guess if you didn't live it, it was easy to forget.  I remember well.  Oh, and the floors - they turned out beautiful.  Fast forward to December.  Tim and I have two weeks off for the holidays.  We decided to use this time to do a much needed home improvement project in one of the second floor bathrooms.  Cameron's bathroom desperately needed a remodel.  I painted the cabinets some time ago, but we decided we were going to tile the floor and put up some decorative glass tiles around the shower, install a new toilet, replace the fixtures and things like that.  Tim spent countless hours cutting tiles and installing the floor.  It was looking good.  He got all the tiles laid, the grout put down, the quarter-round up, the tile sealant on - it was time to install the toilet.  This was on Tuesday.  We were going to my mom's on Wednesday to see my sister and her family who I rarely get to see.  I was carrying some laundry into the bedroom to fold and all of a sudden I heard a terrible noise.  Sounded like a small water fall, which is a nice sound except when it is in your house.  I ran into the kitchen to see Tim running out of the house (for a minute I was thinking - nice of you to save the women and children :) but then it hit me... literally.  Right smack on the head!  Gallons of water were coming out of the kitchen ceiling onto our 4 month old hardwood floors.  It's coming out throught the recessed lighting.  I ran upstairs to see what had happened and as I went down the hallway, it was as though someone turned on a faucet right under the wall and water was coming out from under the bathroom wall into the hallway.  Not just a trickle of water, but a LOT of water. 

Tim was outside of the house turning off the main water supply line to the house.  When he came back in, I asked him if he had any idea what just happened upstairs and in the kitchen.  He said "I know".  Poor guy.  I think he thought I was mad at him.  I wasn't.  Especially after he told me what had happened.  My only question to him was - why didn't you turn off the water before you did anything up there.  He had turned off the valve at the toilet, but the pipe broke in the wall.  It could not have been helped.  I was upset about the kitchen, I was upset about upstairs, I was upset that I would not get to see my sister the next day....

It all worked out fine.  As I am typing the pad has been removed from the carpeting upstairs and a blower is running underneath the carpet to dry the carpeting and floor.  The pad will be replaced.  The kitchen floor has been dried and no damage seems to have been done.  The kitchen ceiling is drying.  It will need to be patched and painted, but it's not permanately damaged.  The plumber cut a hole in the wall in the bathroom to fix the plumbing - but it will be repaired easily.  AND... I was able to go spend a wonderful day with my sister and her family.  All is well that ends well.

So, we are now looking forward to 2011.  2011 should be an adventure for our family.  2011 will probably teach me a lesson in planning - that not everything can be planned, and even if it could, I'm not the planner.  God holds the master plan - our family just needs to follow it.  It may not always be comfortable, and I may sometimes ask why, but a plan is a plan, and God's is the best.  So... let me in on the plan God - when you feel like I need to know.  Until then, we will wait, pray and enjoy what you have to offer us in 2011.  Thank you for ALL of our blessings in 2010!

Happy New Year!

In Christ,
Charity