Our Journey of Faith: One Year of Joy

Yesterday Colin turned ONE. And boy did the memories flood back to us. And for me the tears came as well. But that's nothing new. Brandon can attest to that. ;) Because I often recall the deep, deep valleys we have been through, and now I can literally see God's goodness to us through Colin's face each day.

It was so fitting that on such a special day yesterday that I was reminded -- no, actually I was hit hard -- of how the Lord has walked with us through our mountaintops and valleys. You see, He did a miraculous thing in my heart because He restored my joy and peace in HIM even before we knew we were expecting Colin. And that's just plain amazing to me. God knew that He could glorify Himself through our story by using our sorrow and the love of another very special family to even more show His goodness and grace. We have had the very unique privilege of getting to see His plan unfolded before our eyes.

We know many of you prayed for us over the past years, and we thank you. I just have to say that looking back I KNOW that prayers have carried us. Just a few examples...This frame (in the picture above) was given to me years ago by a friend who prayed truly believing that God would fill that frame with a beautiful picture one day. And He did. Another sweet friend showed me yesterday in her Bible where she had written down her prayer for us, trusting God to do something great for us. My heart overflows with thankfulness for the love of others.

Of course we would have loved Colin no matter when he had come, but I must say that every moment, even the things like losing sleep, are truly so much sweeter because of this journey. (Yes, this sleep-loving mommy just said that!)

Colin is our icing on the cake of life. And speaking of icing...and cake...we had such a special time celebrating this precious little's guy's first year.