year end think

Ah, this time of year always has me reflecting so much on life, and even more so, on Him.  On who He is.  On what He's done.  On how He is blossoming in my life.  On what He's doing in the world, in Haiti, in others, in me.

We've had the opportunity to work for and with and alongside and between 70 men and women at Emmaus Biblical Seminary this year.  To teach and to learn, to share and to listen, to grow and to water.  To preach and to help preach and to teach preach.  To serve and to help serve and to watch serve.  To pray with and laugh with and weep with and break with and build with. 

It's been a joy-growth-stretch-joy, and I'm so thankful.

And then we've got these ornery beautiful hilarious girls.

Who keep us crazy busy and crazy happy and crazy tired and crazy thankful all at the same time.  

Lily went off to school this year, in a different language in a different culture and for the first time in her life, and loved and was loved and learned.  And Sofie is walking and talking and potty training and mess-making everything and everywhere.  And Lily loves Jesus, and wants Him.  And Sofie, she's learning. 

And I'm so thankful.  

And our family just keeps growing, to the point where when we even say "our family", we have to clarify with each other who exactly we're talking about.  

As Lily said this morning, "we have chocolate family and marshmallow family and English talk and Creole talk and you just never know what God's gonna give you."      

We have aunts and uncles we didn't grow up with and brothers and sisters we only just met.  We have supporters we've never shook hands with and prayer warriors we've never known how to pray for and blog readers we don't even know exist.  

We have so many to love and are somehow loved by many and I am so thankful.

But most.  But most we have the same thing we started with...A God who never changes, yet who continues to reveal Himself more and more and in different ways as time goes on.  

A God who never stops faithful, never abandons, and never doesn't understand.  A God who always listens, but more, has so much to say.  A God who is worthy of our praise, and has promised us just what we have right now, just who we are, to give it.

We continue to be called to Himself.

And I'm so thankful.

We're so thankful.

And I've gotta say, too, we're kind of tired :)  

January 5th-7th, the Emmaus Biblical Seminary board has it's bi-annual meeting, this time in Fort-Lauderdale, Florida.  So, tomorrow morning, we're going to head there a few days early and spend  some time being thankful, being away, being with family, and being HIS.