happy new year!

Well folks, it's official - this is my first post of the year 2012.  Wow, that looks weird!  And being on a tropical island with unchanging weather makes it feel even less like a new year :)  

HOWEVER, we had a GREAT end to our year, and currently a GREAT beginning with two great visits from family and friends.  Mom, Dad and Olivia flew out yesterday [can I even believe that?! It was only yesterday - it already feels so long ago!!] Their trip flew by way too fast - seriously, by Wednesday I was thinking "Oh, this has been going at a nice pace" and then all of a sudden it was Saturday and it was over.  But it was WONDERFUL having them in town - lots of reading by the resort poolside, walks on the beach, great eats, exploring SGU [and watching J jump off the cliff in "real life"! :)], getting to go to Belmont and just hang out playing games and watching some movies at home.  I told J as we were leaving the airport how different it already felt.  I really felt like we were on a family vacation for a minute, but then we were left to stay haha.  I am very grateful to have had them visit us - I can't wait to be back in the states in about 4.5 months! :):)

Jessi and Tim and Baby E flew in a few hours later, and we were back at the airport to pick them up.  It was so great to see them and how much little man has grown! It's incredible how different he is in every way - very giggly, interactive, and CHUBBY!!! YES!!! J and I LOVE having a chubster in the house ;)  He's been doing a lot of scooting/rolling over on the beds and a blanket on the floor - very content to just be in the room while everyone else does other things, cracking himself up all the while.  The men have already explored the beach and came home for lunch.  Everyone is actually napping now, but Jessi has yet to see anything, so I think we will be heading to the beach later [if they wake up before sun sets at 5:30! Haha]  In all fairness, we were all up until 2am, so I think everyone is a little pooped, plus the fact that the weather here always takes it out of you :)  

This break has been so weird [but wonderful] in so many ways - I am anxious for it to be summer and for us to be back home, so I want school to start so it can be over...but at the same time, it has been so wonderful to relax and enjoy our surroundings with the people we love and with each other.  I feel like everything is going to still feel weird after its over, but maybe school will "normalize" things again.   I guess everything has just felt very surreal since everyone left the island for Christmas, and then we got people from home to be here - do you get what I'm saying?  Maybe I should be joining everyone for a nap ;)

 

Anyway, this post was really meant to wish everyone a happy New Year, to encourage those of you who know the Lord to continue to pursue Him steadfastly, and to say that I am excited to see what the Lord has in store for 2012!

This verse was in my reading this morning in Daily Light - something my mom gave me for the New Year - it has already been so encouraging!  As one of those people that can get trapped in the past/what-if scenarios/comparison games, this verse is always humbling:

But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3:13-14

Forgetting the past is active: forgetting the good and the bad, and straining for what God has ahead of me, focusing my eyes on Christ and what He has granted me for my life - a very hard thing to do, but something that I want to grow in this year by God's grace :) 

May we press on to see Him more clearly, love Him more deeply, understand Him more fully, and yearn for the eternity He has in store for us!  

Grace and Peace.