so a new year is here...

And let me tell you, I am glad to hear it.:) This past year has been one of the most challenging years of my(our) life. Dealing with Luke's unemployment and underemployment has been a difficult experience and one that is still ongoing. It's safe to say that we both hope this new year proves to be quite different, but given all that we have been through and the things we have learned, we know better than to have too high of expectations. That isn't to say that we don't still have a great deal of hope and faith in God (who has shown himself quite faithful through all of this) that our circumstances will change for the positive in the near future, but we have definitely become more cautious and reserved about our expectations.

I would never say that it has been a bad year. It was just much harder than we had anticipated and we have had to change our lifestyle and to put aside some goals for now. It has been a learning experience and we have been given the opportunity to see God provide for our needs in many very real ways. He has been faithful to us and blessed us, even when we have been discouraged and questioned Him. We've learned things that I'm sure we will carry with us for the rest of our lives. We've grown closer to each other and learned how to encourage each other through the challenges, which has been one of the biggest blessings.

So, needless to say, we'd like to put this year behind us, but not without taking the things we've learned from it. We've appreciated the love and support of our families, friends and church family; that is always a tremendous blessing. We hope 2010 will be a year where we can get a fresh start and begin working towards some of our hopes and dreams, but we also desire to continue being flexible to God's bigger plan and remain positive whatever the circumstances.