Thirty and Thankful

 

So I turned Thirty last week!!!
While I know I'm sorta behind in the blogging, I thought this would be a good place to start and then go back and catch up.

I read on another blog of someone who turned thirty and they highlighted years past leading up to thirty. I thought this was a fabuolous idea and wanted to do that as well, so here goes!...

2000: I turned twenty, and boy was I excited! Not having teen after my age meant a great deal to me as I did not really care for my teenage years. I was excited to enter a new decade of my life and see what the Lord had in store for me. I remember spending my birthday in clinicals in my quest to become a Respiratory Therapist!
I was also praying God would send along the Man he had for me so I could begin that journey in life and in September my prayers were answered as this was when I met Bob. I knew I loved him very early on but never would believe the blessings he has brought me. God continued to show me who I was to be in him throughout this year.

2001: What a fabulous fun year! This year was spent planning our wedding (from June til Dec.), while we were both finishing school. We got married in Dec. God was continuing to shape us as individuals, yet preparing us for marriage to our best friends!

2002: We began our first full year of marriage. I was working full time as a respiratory therapist and began working at the VA this year. Bob was finishing up school and would graduate in Dec.

2003: This is the year that God brought Premier into our lives. WOW another blessing that I'm still realizing. I'm so very thankful for Premier, how it has blessed our lives and the lives that have been enriched. This is also the year (in Sept.) that we found out we were expecting our first child! God's timing is so perfect!

2004: The year our first child was born in April...our son Clark! We took a huge leap of faith and decided after prayer that I would be blessed to be able to stay at home with Clark since I could supplement our income with Premier! This was an exciting year of firsts!, but how I love being a mommy and Jewelry Lady...in Dec. we found out we were expecting our second child!!!

2005: Wow on to the second half of my twenties...how fast they seem to be going. I remember on this birthday Bob telling me that I was a quarter of a century old! HeHe in perfect Bob style! I was adapting and learning how to balance being a mommy and jewelry lady. Clark celebrated his first birthday in April and we moved in May. Our Second son Harrison was born on August 11th weighing 8lbs. 3oz.! This year was also an exciting one as I became a mommy to two precious little boys!

2006: So now I'm on the other side of the twenties! Still learning to balance, but was blessed this year to attend my first Premier Designs National Rally. This is when I truly captured a vision of what I was a part of. This was also the year that God showed me what true worship meant and how he had created me to worship him. I have never forgotten the power of these lessons!
Bob and I are thrilled to be parents of such sweet little boys that grow so fast! This was the year at Christmas that I refer to as "The Train Christmas"...the boys received many train sets and it was precious to watch all three of the guys sit and play endlessly with their new toys!

2007: This was the year that I truly began to search out what it means to have a servants heart and what my place in that was! God began showing me several areas in my heart that needed pruning and healing and though it was a very tough process to go through began to heal areas of my life that I previously didn't want him to even go. He was teaching me to Love who he made me to be, and what his love meant. In Dec. of this year, to our great surprise, but again his perfect timing, we found out we were expecting our third child. At ten weeks we almost lost this child and God taught me a sweet lesson regarding his love and sovereignty. He gave me a peace and I knew it was going to be okay either way...and it was! On Christmas Eve we found out the baby was fine and the pregnancy was progressing normally! All Praise to God our creator!

2008: It was the Spring of this year that I began to grasp and begin to accept and understand the Love that God has for me! This is a lesson I pray I will never forget, for it has better allowed me to love others the way that he has called me too! While I have a Great ways to go in this area I will always look back at this year as the beginning of knowing how to accept his unconditional love for me allowing me to accept others love completely and better loving others in all areas of my life. In July of this year we were blessed to have a daughter! Chloe Laine was born on July 24th, being the biggest of the three weighing in at 9lbs. 11oz. The rest of 2008 was spent adjusting to having three children at home with me while running my Premier business. I'm still learning that, but 2008 was my best year yet!

2009: Wow...the last year of my twenties. This was a year I still spent adjusting and it seemed that the devil wanted to rob me of the lessons I had learned and valued so much during the previous years...it was a fierce battle in my mind, but of course I had the victory with Jesus! By the end of this year he was beginning to prune me once again for what he had in store for me. I left this year knowing that 30was closely approaching and negativity had no room in my heart or mind. As I refer to it...NO MORE STINKING THINKING! Praise the Lord for this victory! Again this year was my best yet in Premier and I truly left 29 knowing the best was yet to come!!!

2010: Here it is...I turned 30! But you know what, I really like it! I told Bob that I think I feel even more Sassy! Watch out world...I use the word sassy but it's really a confidence that Christ has given me through him and what he's taught me in my twenties! I Love being Bob's wife and going through this journey together. He's truly my best friend on this earth, knows me like no other human, and I wouldn't have had the decade previously without him! I Love being a Mommy to three precious children, who I pray God will continue to allow to raise to come to Love and know him early in their sweet lives! I Love being a jewelry lady and empowering women to know the same truths about themselves that I've learned! I'm so truly blessed and can't wait to see what this decade holds.

There are several of you that were not mentioned specifically by name in this blog (my sweet sisters) but know you're in my heart always and you've helped make me who I am!

Love you all