Just Some Thoughts......

Disclaimer: This is a very long post - it's very random with random thoughts and words jumbled together probably not even making sense.  I hope you will not just read it (if you get that far) but know my heart while you read it - it's not a complaining post!


It's the tenth of January 2016 and I've decided this year to dust off my blog and enjoy it again!  I do love blogging, and I noticed last year that writing was really an outlet for me and I didn't do very much of it. So I'm hoping to change that this year. :)

When we first started this blog in  2008, we named it "Our Life Through The Lens" because we wanted it to be mostly a picture blog and not very "wordy".  I still want that for our blog, but I think the "wordy" part might change some.  There are times that I am just wordy...times that I need to get things out and declutter my thoughts.

I'm not sure what direction this blog will take this year and I may change it to "private" I'm not sure yet, because it is a lot more personal for me......but we will see what happens.  If you enjoy our blog, please let us know in the comments, that way if I do change it to private, I'll be sure to add your name to the list. ;)

We took the bottom picture today.  When you look at these pictures you might see that the kids have grown, you might notice that Kristyn has different glasses, you may see that Keith and I aren't packing so much weight (big smile), or that Keith has less hair... but when I look at these pictures I see something different.

These pictures tell a story.......a story in progress that is not finished yet. A story that only God can write!

In the first picture (2015) I see a family that is happy, nervously excited, kind of fearful and completely thrilled to be in the place where God has called them to serve.

Fast forward a year and in the second picture I see a family that is still happy, not as nervous, but still kind of nervously excited about what the year will hold, not really fearful anymore at all and yes, still completely thrilled to be in the place where God has called them.

It's amazing how these two pictures can be so similar and yet so different at the same time.

When we first came a year ago, we were all of the emotions listed above and then some. We didn't know what to expect, we couldn't see all the things we would face, we didn't know all the hard times that lay around the corner that would knock us to our knees, we couldn't see the hurt and confusion that the year would bring......BUT we did know that we were right where God wanted us to be!

This week starts another year for us here.  It's hard to believe it's only been one year. We've been through hard times, many of them......and we know that this year will hold some of those same things (plus more) and yet, somehow it's easier this time.  

It may seem weird to think that even knowing what all we faced last year and knowing we're in the same place this year and very likely will face some of the same things again....it's easier?

Yes, it's easier this time and here is the reason why.

It's easier because even though we've been throughs some of our deepest valley's here in Jalapa, we've also experienced God like we never have before here.  Even though we thought the hurt couldn't go deeper, God's love and comfort did go deeper. Even though we thought we couldn't be stretched, mentally, emotionally or spiritually any more than we had been, God's grace and mercy extended further! Even though we felt like we couldn't take another step, God's arms were always waiting to carry us through.

We knew all of this a year ago - in our heads - but we really didn't *know* it, or experience it until last year.

So in a way it's easier coming into this year, because we know that God is big,  God is faithful and God is good.  He was all of that last year and He has promised to be that this year, too.

We have also experienced so much love from a people that are a different color than us, speak a different language, do things entirely differently that we do, but God has allowed love to flow between these beautiful Guatemalan people and our family that no words are needed to be able to understand it.  When we came, we knew how to say "hello" and "where's the bathroom" in Spanish, yet, the day we arrived we could feel love!  God opened that door from their hearts to ours and let love flow freely to our children and to us!  That has carried us through so many times!  They have truly been God's hands extended!

I know that this post portrays our time here as pretty bleak and I don't mean it that way at all. It has not been a bed of roses, more like a patch of thorns, but the roses that have bloomed from that patch of thorns are like no other.

The ramblings of this post is not to say how bad we've had it, but rather how BIG our God is and has been for us.  We have had so much good this last year and I'll tell you about those things, too, but the thoughts on my heart today as I looked at those two pictures were just......God is amazing!  He has brought us so far last year and I can't wait to see what He'll do this year! 

God gave me two words for this year!  I decided they needed to wait for another post.

My thoughts are empty now - my heart is full.  Our dear, old blog has been a good place for me again today to rest my weary thoughts!   Even if you don't read all of them, they have done me good.

This is Ashlyn and her best friend Kati!  This sums up how we feel about living here in Jalapa - thrilled to pieces! 

I like our blog.  Usually, people that come to a blog, come for a reason. They come because they want to or have a purpose to, they come because they are interested. I don't link our blog to Facebook for many reasons.  This is a very personal place for me and for our family and I don't want it to just "run across" someones newsfeed - I want them to purposefully care to read it. :)

Thank you for taking time to read this - if you did. :)  All of my posts this year won't be like this, I promise ( I hope ).  I look forward to reconnecting with you on our blog so you can see a different side of our life here.   I'd love to hear from you, too.

Love,
Crystal