Life is hard. Especially over the past year, it has been extra hard for us.
I have not kept up with the blog as much as usual, mostly just because we've been so busy.
But we have had so many major changes in our lives and so many transitions in the past year, it is crazy. It has been an emotional roller coaster!
But it all comes down to this: He gives and takes away. But my heart will choose to say, Lord, blessed be your name.
We don't know the reasons or the why's or the timing of events in our lives, but we do know that God is faithful and that He will provide!
Last summer, after months and months of testing and interviewing, Matt was officially accepted into the Police Academy for MNPD. This is what he wanted to do and he had finally made it! Out of 1200 applicants, he was 1 of 40 that made it into the Academy. Just before it started, God was telling him that it just wasn't the right timing. He struggled back and forth before deciding that he was going to hold off on it for now. The next month, we found out we were pregnant with Ellie! We also needed to sell our house so that we could get a 4 bedroom house for the kids, and also to move into Williamson County for schools. So it just confirmed his decision to not do the Academy then.
So between August-November we sold our house and bought a new one in Nolensville! It was a crazy time, packing and moving and living with Matt's parents for 3 weeks...all while pregnant and having horrible morning sickness! Also during the time we lived with them, Matt's mother fell and broke her hip and needed a hip replacement. We moved into our house the day before Thanksgiving. It was weird living in a new house and a new town with new neighbors...even though we are only about 6-7 minutes from our old house. But again, it was a transition we had to get used to. I am still not used to our new house even now!
On Christmas morning, we found out we were having a baby girl! YAY! We were all so excited! My morning sickness went away and we began preparing the baby's room and buying baby girl stuff. We also spent LOTS of time trying to decide on a name! So things were getting somewhat back to "normal".
Until March 9th...Matt called me at about 2:00 that afternoon and told me he had just been laid off from his job of the past 7 years. It sucked. I immediately thought, what in the world are going to do now?!! We just bought a new house and have a house payment, we have two kids, and our third is due in just 10 weeks! What will we do if we have no health insurance to cover the delivery in May?!!! I was freaking out for a while. But his company ended up giving him a severance package, including the health insurance to cover until the end of May. Praise the Lord!
Fast forward to May...my grandmother, Nana (my mother's mother), was 95 years old and had been going down hill over the past couple of weeks. On the morning of May 2nd, she went to be with the Lord. Then just after midnight on May 3rd, my sister Jenny welcomed her third baby girl into the world! It was as if Nana had gone up to heaven and sent this little angel down! Peyton was perfectly healthy at 8 lbs 10 oz!
Exactly one week later, we welcomed our little Ellie into the world at 12:12pm! She was also perfectly healthy at 7 lbs 11 oz and she was absolutely beautiful!!! Jenny and I were both sad, though, that Nana never got to meet our newest babies.
More good news came in June, as Matt got a new job! He is working at Synnex in LaVergne as the Receiving Supervisor. He is happy there, but he knows this is not where God wants him to be permanently. He has started the process with MNPD again, and just found out that he passed the initial tests so he is moving forward in the process to get into the Academy again. He definitely feels that this is what God is calling him to do, and he feels that the timing is right this time! He has several more tests and interviews to do before being accepted, so we are just praying that it all works out.
Just 5 days ago, we got a call from my Mom telling us that my Grandmother Joyce in Georgia (my dad's mother) had unexpectedly passed away. It was definitely a shock to us all. She was 81 years old and was doing just fine. Still living by herself, still going to all her Sunday School classes and Bible groups, going grocery shopping, etc. The Lord was ready to call her up, and it was just her time. We went down to Georgia for the funeral, and it was a beautiful service. I don't think any of us were ready to let her go yet, though. Just a few days before she passed, I told my Dad that we wanted to go down to see her soon so she could meet Ellie. Instead we went for a funeral. It definitely makes me sad that neither one of my grandmothers were able to meet or hold Ellie. But I know they are both smiling down on her from heaven!
It is odd to think that I have no living grandparents anymore. It makes you realize how important family really is, and that it is up to all of us to carry on our family traditions and to stick together. I definitely feel like something is missing, and I know that when Nana and Grandmother Joyce left us they both took a piece of our hearts with them.
All of these transitions and emotions have been hard...some joyous and exciting and some sad.
But we know HE is with us every step of the way!
