Farewell, 2013!

By the end of 2013, I was so ready to say farewell! Since my blogging has fallen by the wayside, I wanted to summarize and reflect on 2013 here in hopes of blogging more in 2014.

Here we go!

January brought the passing of my grandfather and officially beginning the adoption process. We cleaned and cleaned our house and drugged up our dogs for our first homestudy visit. Other than Oby having a bad reaction and passing out, our visit went really well! Lud turned 29!

In February, we traveled down to Jackson for our individual interviews for our homestudy. We met our social worker at Cups, and a girl who overheard Lud's answers to her questions came up to me and said, "Your husband is answering those questions REALLY well!" Ha! Lud went to Wesley Statewide where he enjoyed hearing Bishop Swanson speak and I went to my friend Anna's wedding. Her reception playlist of our favorite high school songs was so fun!

In March, we did absolutely nothing for spring break (which was probably nice, I can't really remember, ha!) At the end of the month, we traveled to Oxford to complete our first round of fingerprinting and had a great Easter hosting Delta State international students for lunch at the Wesley.

In April, I turned 26 which made me start feel like 30 would come too soon. I also ran my first 5k. I have to admit I was pretty proud!

In May, we had a yard sale for our adoption. We were very blessed to receive so many donations from our friends, family, and church family! I had several interviews with the Cleveland School District and was offered an inclusion teacher position. Therefore, I also concluded my third and final school year at East Sunflower Elementary School. It was definitely bittersweet because I loved my students and coworkers there!

In June, we decided to celebrate our 4 year anniversary camping down in Louisiana. Let's just say that camping on a beach on the Gulf of Mexico in summer is not as picturesque as it may seem and Lud didn't catch any fish in the fish capital of the world, soooo one of my best friends came to the rescue and let us stay with her in New Orleans. We really enjoyed exploring N.O. for a couple of days and ate the best food! At the end of the month I went to the beach with some girlfriends. Reading on the beach, eating good food, and just being together was great fun!

In July, we finally collected the rest of our paperwork and turned in everything for our dossier! It was such a relief to turn in that mound of paperwork and then we started the stage of waiting to be matched with our son. My family had a "staycation" in Corinth because my grandmother really can't travel. We woke up slowly on the porch, lounged by the pool, and ate well every night. It was a good week just spending time together! I also took my last class and my comps for my masters. Thank the Lord I passed and was done with all that work! At the end of the month we drove our niece and nephew back to Texas after a week with the grandparents. We had a wonderful time going to a Texas Rangers game, exploring the Stockyards in Fort Worth, and hanging out at the pool.

In August, I was very thankful to have my new job because we started school later than all the other school districts around. I got to go to Corinth to see my brother start the first day of his senior year. Then, we had our Wesley servant team retreat to get ready for our 4th school year at the Delta State Wesley Foundation. Right when I started my job there was a turn of events in which I had to change schools. While it was surprising to us, I know God knew the whole time that I would end up there. I love my new principal, coworkers, and most of the students! 

In September, our first Wesley worship service had around 100 students. It was a very powerful and special service! I improved my time at my second 5k, and Lud surprised me with an overnight trip to Natchez. I loved the old mansions, and we ate pretty well too, ha!

In October, my family traveled to Nashville to watch my little cousin in his school musical. He was so cute! We also took a few more day trips to visit with family and friends.

In November, my sister and I took the best sister trip ever to Disney World! It was just magical! Right before Thanksgiving, my grandmother had a fall and ended up in the hospital. She developed pneumonia very quickly and was pretty sick for a couple of weeks. I was so blessed to be able to be with her at the hospital during the week of Thanksgiving. After numerous car problems, Lud finally met me at his parents' house to have Thanksgiving with his family. The following weekend, we had Thanksgiving with my family too.

December brought my grandmother home in a much more weakened state than she had been a mere month ago. This somewhat clouded my Christmas spirit, but serving communion at my parents' church on Christmas Eve was definitely a highlight of the season. Right after Christmas we jumped in the car to take some Wesley students to a missions conference in Kentucky. It really renewed our passion for missions! 

Looking back over 2013, I am especially convicted at how blessed Lud and I are. Although 2013 was emotionally challenging for me, I know and am thankful for God's faithfulness and Jesus's sacrifice.  We continue to wait to see our son's face and are hopeful that 2014 will be the year we bring him home. However, our lives will not be on hold until then- we look forward to working on our church's missions committee this upcoming year, I will continue to learn and develop as an inclusion teacher, and Lud will work on his thesis project for seminary. I pray that 2014 will be an amazing year for everyone!

"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful." Hebrews 10:23