New Year’s happens to be one of my favorite times of the year. I think it has something to do with new beginnings and fresh starts. It’s an opportunity to look back and reflect on where I’ve been, and then move on to new adventures!
I’ll admit, though, that I’m a little sad to say goodbye to 2008 because it has been such an amazing year. As 2008 goes into the history books tonight, we pause to give thanks to God for an incredible year!
We entered 2008 living in Mooresville, furiously finishing up dissertations, and *waiting* for a call that the boy we were adopting was approved for travel. Near the end of January, we completed our first full drafts of our dissertations. And a day after emailing them to our mentor, we got the call that Ethan was approved for travel.
We traveled to Korea on February 5, 2008 (read about the 30-hour trip here). While in Korea, we wrote 20 posts, which included 30 photos, and even though we were approximately 7,000 miles from home, we were able to communicate with family and friends through the blog. More than 70 comments were posted during our time in Korea.
Our time in Korea was an amazing experience all around! To this day, most nights during our family devotional time at Ethan’s bedtime, we pray for our friends in Korea, especially the (then) 5-year-old daughter of one of the members of the small group; she had been battling cancer (we wrote a post about the small group).
One of the easiest ways to read the posts from February 2008 is to go to the archives page, and click on February 2008 to see all the posts from that month. Posts from 2/6 to 2/15 cover the entire trip. And there’s always the Ethan’s Adoption link at the top of the page for a more in-depth summary of the experience (with links).
But in February the year was just getting started, and a couple months after returning home, we were asked to consider moving to new appointments. In late June, we moved to Clearfield, where we have enjoyed spending the last half of the year getting acclimated in new ministries.
What an amazing year, indeed!
So at the end of 2008, we are grateful for all of God’s gifts, and we look forward to new adventures in 2009!
HI Joleen, Randy, and Ethan,
What a joy to take the time to read your recent blog entries!! I enjoyed the Ethan pictures and stories and your thoughtful “think about this” entries, too. I join you in celebrating the blessings of 2008 and wish you the best of 2009!!
Love to all,
Jean
Thanks, Jean.
Now that we’re into the new year, we’re excited about what God will do in 2009. In fact, we’re nearing the one-year mark of some very meaningful and memorable days. We’ll be blogging about some of those things in the days/weeks ahead.
Thanks Jean!
Hoping you enjoyed a wonderful Christmas, especially with that new grandbaby! Greetings to all.