It's really a blessing to look back on the past decade of my life, even though there was also some hard times, some sadness, even some anger, I can now look back and count my blessings for all that I've experienced.
Since the decade of 2000 started I've gained a few precious people in my life as well as enjoyed many special times with them. I've enjoyed the blessing of a new husband and the great times we have had together since we started in September 2002! I married him in 2003, adding 4 step children plus a daughter-in-law, 2 grandchildren, a wonderful father and mother, Vern & Beulah, as well as a new sister Patty, and brothers Gary, Brent, Jim & Mike and sisters-in-laws Ruth, Barb, and Patti and many nieces and nephews! I've had some wonderful times, conversations and family reunions with this Petersen family, I really do love them! We as a couple have also seen added to our family since then 12 grandchildren! We have experienced first hand the births of 4 of those (Jada, Madison, Jordan & Keleigh), and what a wonderful experience it is to be there to see these new little people into this world! We do love our grandchildren! What a blessing they each one are to us! The decade of the 2000's also brought us 3 son-in-laws, 1 daughter-in-law and currently expecting to add the 4th son-in-law in March 2010 and another grandchild April 2010 (the beginning of another wonderful decade)!
We did have some loss during this decade as well. We lost a wonderful father in Vern. He was quite a man, and I'd never experienced such fatherly love as during my time knowing him! We lost a grandchild to miscarriage and that was a sad time. We experienced illness and surgeries but we made it through them all. We also lost jobs, gained jobs and lost jobs again...but we are hopeful that our dream job is waiting in 2010! We also lost precious time with family members due to lack of understanding and misunderstanding, hopefully 2010 will see a remedy to this and we can make up for lost time! Time is something we can't get back, we don't get seconds, so it should be treasured, and I have a resolution to put the value on time that it deserves...to cherish every minute with all my loved ones!
These quotes about family are so true, and I love them!
When you look at your life, the greatest happinesses are family happinesses. ~Joyce Brothers
In some families, please is described as the magic word. In our house, however, it was sorry. ~Margaret Laurence
Family quarrels have a total bitterness unmatched by others. Yet it sometimes happens that they also have a kind of tang, a pleasantness beneath the unpleasantness, based on the tacit understanding that this is not for keeps; that any limb you climb out on will still be there later for you to climb back. ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic's Notebook, 1960
I'm looking forward to 2010, to enjoy precious time with loved ones, to achieve personal goals, family goals, and to be all the Lord expects of me!
Bring on the NEW YEAR!
