Looking Back

Looking back is not always a good thing. In many cases though, it can be very beneficial. This is the beginning of what we call a new year. In God's eyes, it's simply another step, but to us, it is a new beginning. It's a point that we can use to look ahead or to look back.

Last year was one full of new experiences for me. I taught junior high and high school, I had a baby, I got a colonoscopy, and I moved to Maine. Each item in this list had some significance or it would not have stayed in my memory.

I mention teaching high school. Education was my major in college, but through teaching, I found that my love is in the preparation not the actual teaching. I love sitting at my desk preparing tests and quizzes. I love to research, but I don't love to teach.

If you have followed my blog, you'll remember the birth of our son Braydon. He was born a year ago this Sunday. Time has gone by so quickly. Those days when he was first born did not. It seemed he would be in the hospital forever. I remember being fearful because there was a couple of older babies in the hospital with Braydon. It made me wonder if he would be there that long. That experience was not really bad though. We had a place to stay near him, I recovered from my C-section, and I learned how to take care of him. In retrospect, it was a profitable experience.

About 7 weeks after I had Braydon I started getting terrible abdominal cramping along with other issues that went with it. It was terrible. I really thought I might have cancer or be dying. I thought it could be what I was eating, but the colonoscopy was clear. So what could it be? The doctor threw the term "digestive functioning disorder" at me, which is basically what IBS is. Food did not really affect me though unless I ate too much of chocolate or sweets. We traveled to see family and in Michigan it got worse. Then we went to a cabin for a vacation where we couldn't drink the water. We drank only bottled. Amazingly, my symptoms cleared in a day or two. The Lord revealed to us that my body can't handle chlorinated water. I can't drink it and I can't shower in it. Since then I found in research that chlorinated water is a irritant of IBS.

At the end of last summer, the Lord led us to move to Maine where my husband is assistant pastor and a pharmacy technician. I am a stay at home mom. I have to say I think it takes more discipline to not work then to work all day. I find myself wasting way too much time. I do well with having goals and projects to accomplish. One thing I did since we moved here was go back and read old journals I wrote over the past ten years or so. Reading those journals was so influential for my Christian life.

As I look back on last year, I see failures, and triumphs. The good thing is that God does not really go by years like we do. His mercies are new every morning, and he is faithful every day.