Life is Good...Hard sometimes but in the end Good.

In keeping up with tradition here is my annual birthday blog. This blog has become a snap shot of my life over the years. the highs and lows and parts in between. I enjoy reflecting and reading where i have come from and seeing where I am still wrestling in life. Seeing the constants of Faith in God and life with my wife Leanne. She is a much more avid journal writer and spend hours in the week and has a collection of her thoughts but only in paper. This is my writing outlet once maybe twice a year. If you are reading this thanks for taking the time to look into my life. Feel free to read previous posts and please excuse my poor grammer and spelling this is all just raw thoughts that come to me as I write.

If you read my post from last year you will notice that it is kinda broken up and posted really late. the result of that was due to a hard time in my life while I processed through the loss of our first child. It is apart of my life story and probably the only loss I have ever really felt. Almost a year has passed since then and life is looking much more promising this year as Leanne is 7 months pregnant with a boy (named to be released after I meet him in May).  God has used that time of the miscarriage to teach us lots about Him and our selves. I learned how to love my wife more and just BE with her. I learned how to trust God and experience his unexplainable peace that Paul mentions in Philippians  4:6-7 and 9.

In the midst of pain God provided an expected trip to Spain. before we lost Chad Taylor we had made plans to visit our supporters in Ontario to update them on life. but instead of being able to share the news of pregnancy we shared that we are staying on at Joe's although we were feeling pretty burnt out from the transitions and loss of Chad. While meeting with a couple of Leanne's supporters they asked us what we where doing for life and what we might be doing for some rest and relaxation. We told them about our friends who are missionary's in Spain and wanting to go visit them if we could afford the flights. As it turned out they and just been to Spain last year and wanted us to see what they did and so offered to gift us a trip to Spain. So in August we went to Barcalona and then to Bilboa and then to the province of Asturias where our friends are.

Barcelona was amazing we only had 36 or so hours there but we took in a lot. best parts was seeing and walking through the Sagraida familial cathedral. and experiencing being out of north america. we took a train to Bilbao and found our selves in the midst of there local festival which was really cool to see this huge city wide party going on. and going to the Guggenheim art gallery and seeing some of G. Burgess works. Then we spent a week with Adam and Angela. They took us around to some of there favorite spots and we explored the area with them. On our last day we found out we were pregnant again.

Leanne took some time off in the fall to rest and get back to her normal self after feeling burnt out from the past year. I have continued on at Joe's Place and on the Board of the church. We also have hired a new pastor in Sept named Tim. He has been doing a great job leading our church and helping us develop our core values and figure out how to live them out. Life is marching on and not slowing down. The new years party went well and we have a lot of new youth coming out to Joe's. It is over whelming at times and I am getting pretty tired. But god is my strength and helping me through. I have been spending regular time reading the bible and praying for those that I am working with and that is giving me the joy and energy to keep going.

This year I am looking forward to holding my first born Child, Learning how to live more for God and continuing to BE with him. I know that hard times will come and God is my strength. there is lots more that I haven't mentioned but I think that is all the important things that I want to record. Life is good.