Favorite Moments of 2009

1. Finding out we are expecting another Baby Bartling (July of 2010 :)

2. Meeting Chad's birth mother, Terri, and her precious family. (I will post the story soon, I promise!) She is such a special lady!

3. Moving back to Central Texas (an experience that was both bitter and sweet)

4. Enjoying the blessing of having so much more time with our families...especially celebrating birthdays and holidays!

5. Every time our friends from Fort Worth came to visit us! We don't know if we would have made the transition as smoothly without all your visits. What cherished time!

6. Reconnecting with Central Texas friends and meeting new one's!

*The Baretto Family

*The Grubh Family

*The Walker Family

*Small Group Friends

7. Every single Sunday at the Austin Stone Community Church

8. Moving to Austin (such a great city!) We are living on a ranch in a brand-new house on over 1/2 an acre! Luke loves all the room to run and play outside...that, and there are cows to go visit nearby. We also see deer, rabbits and we've even seen an owl a couple of times. It is so serene and tranquil here. We are really enjoying our new home! Anyone who wants to come visit is welcome. We have a very comfortable guest bedroom and bath.

9. Summer Concert in the Park in San Marcos - great family fun (live music, lawn chairs, coolers filled with favorite beverages...what could be better!) Also, playing/swimming/floating in the Blanco, San Marcos and Comal River. *Check out more pictures from a previous blog post: Summer Concert in the Park.

10. Watching Luke grow and develop. He is the greatest blessing of our lives. Everyday is filled with so much laughter and love. Here are some current pics of him (can't believe he will be three in four months!)

11. All the answers to prayer!!! It is truly AMAZING to see God work and experience the comfort of a Savior during difficult times. We are so thankful to the Bartlings for providing a roof over our heads for seven months! You can't thank someone enough for that kind of blessing! Through all the struggles of this year, we have seen that God DOES always have our best interests at heart, but sometimes you have to go through a storm to experience and enjoy the calm that follows. We pray for all who we dearly love that 2010 is full of God doing great things in your lives. Not only can you trust Him with your storms, but you can know that for as many tears as you sow through the storm, you will experience equal joy and so much more. We have found that C. S. Lewis was right when he wrote in The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses:

"Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling around with drink and sex and ambition (entertainment, busyness, money, materialism) when infinite joy is offered to us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."

*italicized addition mine

The fact is, Chad and I really loved the life we had in Fort Worth. Many parts of it were very good and Godly, but there were parts of it that weren't. As many have heard Chad say, "I was really fine with the kingdom I had built for myself." Well, that kingdom fell, and it really hurt to watch it fall, but God had a great plan for a holiday at sea in our future. In order for us to experience that great adventure, our kingdom needed a new KING. It wasn't a very pretty takeover, either. We held on to it until our knuckles ached. It is such a tempting tendency to claim and reclaim the position of king in our lives, isn't it? Honestly, it is a daily battle. We have found in the last year that the more we give the throne up to it's Rightful Owner, the better off we are. We ARE far to easily pleased. God has great adventures in store for all our lives. We have to be brave and step out of the slum in order for him to take us on those great adventures. We also have to recognize that the slum we too often settle for sucks and is a cheap thrill at best! By slum, I mean sin. We have to recognize and pay attention to those areas in our lives and fight against them so that we can experience the "infinite joy that is offered to us." A joy that we didn't even know was possible. The way to fight is through repentance. Acts 3: 19 & 20 says, "Repent therefore, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus." *emphasis mine. This is a process that we have really come quite familiar with this year. Repentance has lead to refreshment and the presence of the Lord in our lives. I highly recommend going on a repentance test drive if you are feeling distant from God. You will no doubt find His refreshment and His presence soon after. It is not fun to see the ugliness within, but it is so worth it to be brave and face it! Not many people have the guts to do this, and for them, the slums may be the best they will ever know. I am so glad that our God is a God of all kinds of love, and at times, that love is a tough love. He will go to extreme measures for us not to settle for the slums. That is exactly what happened in our lives this year, and it is a blessing that we are eternally grateful for.