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2015: Great is Thy Faithfulness



The year 2014 was a roller coaster ride for me and my family, and as with any roller coaster, you start at the bottom.

Our ride began in January, homeless and living with my in-laws. It sounds way worse that it played out. Being homeless was actually an answer to prayer. We owned our own home for seven years before we outgrew it. It sold quickly and, to make a long story short, we needed a place to crash until we found a new house. My in-laws were actually very hospitable and patient with us during our tenure there.

February was looking up. But that's the only direction it could have headed after receiving news that my dad had prostrate cancer. We spotted a home online, did some research and made an offer. By month's end, we signed paperwork and the house was ours. This was a miracle in itself, seeing the home had been repossessed and was government-owned. The process on houses like this normally takes months and months, but God worked it all out.

March was crazy busy, but exciting as well. Since the house we purchased was a repo, there was work that needed done before we moved in. Our goal was to have the remodel completed by April 1, so we could move in. This involved major remodeling efforts by yours truly, all the while, working two jobs.

April started out as crazy as March, but fatigue started to set in. We were to move in by the first of the month, but that had to be pushed back due to an unforeseen calamity. Apparently my horizontal runs of copper had pin-hole leaks, which probably gave way when the lines were pressurized and depressurized several times over the course of remodeling. I wasn't sure how much more I had in the tank. I was emotionally and physically drained. Can you say "valley"?

April continued to be a trying month. We soon discovered through a very unpleasant happening, that our sewer lines needed cleaned out. I'll spare you the details. A week into April and the plumbing and sewer issues were resolved and the progress on the house was far enough along, that we decided to move in, which was a task in itself.

May was better. Now that we were there full time, we could work on the house at a more leisurely pace. It was the last month of school and it wound down uneventfully.

June began our summer "break," but it seemed like anything but a break. Yard work, a week-long revival, Vacation Bible School, a short vacation to Tennessee, a school office remodel, and prep for the new school year all made the weeks fly by.

Middle of August: Time for orientation and the first day of school. From week one of the school year until Christmas break, there was a plethora of issues within the school that has made it perhaps the worst one in its 11-year history. Issues mostly from un-supportive "Christians." We've had teachers and staff disrespected so often throughout first two quarters, that discouragement has been the theme within our ranks.

This past year has been undoubtedly one of the most trying and discouraging years I've ever faced as an adult. I could have given up on God many times. And it is very easy to focus on all the negatives and valleys in which we sometimes stand in life, but I am encouraged that all I go through is a part of God's plan for my life. I am also encouraged to know that He has good things in store for me in 2015. I have no idea what they are, but as long as I continue doing His will, He will make my path straight before me. He will lead me and my family through the doors that He will open for us. He will shut others. But no matter the circumstance, I will let Him lead.

"Lead me, O LORD, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies; make thy way straight before my face. -- Psalms 5:8

"It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness." -- Lamentations 3:22-23

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