For when we remember, we see things as they are.
We see His handiwork that we may have not seen when things were all unfolding.
I love this by Clive Staples himself:
“Isn’t it funny how day by day nothing changes but when you look back everything is different….”
Often times, our days pass so quickly and it seems as though the routine could make us mad.
We long for “adventure”, “change”, “what she has”, “things as they WERE”
But dear ones, nothing is new under the sun.
And if we spend our time moaning about our present condition or longing for days past…
We miss the beauty of the here moment
We miss what He is doing…making glory all around us.
And often times, when we look back, things are actually quite beautiful…even the painful times…even the routine times…and they actually are not all the same…
Because it is all coming together.
And it will all one day make sense.
This tapestry of our lives.
There have been times this past year…especially this past summer…when I literally never left our bedroom
I was on the bed with Adam (who was sick most of the summer), pregnant, sweating my skin off, chasing mice away.
It is true.
Let’s just be honest here.
And it was not glorious, adventurous, or romantic.
Skin all stretched out, dripping with the Indian summer heat, longing for healing for my son, and all the while trying to be a faithful, encouraging wife.
It was rough at times.
But dear ones, as I look back, I cannot help but smile.
For He has redeemed those moments.
He has shone Himself faithful even in those day long stretches in the bedroom quarantine;)
He is faithful.
So here is a blog to remember all that happened in 2012.
I will share a picture from each month and a blog post from the month;)
This is doing my heart good…remembering…because as I look ahead to 2013 I am a little overwhelmed.
For all that needs to happen.
Silly, it is, for He has already done so much to prove Himself faithful.
As if the Lord of all creation needs to prove Himself…
But I see it all appearing on the horizon…
The daily task of loving my 3 boys well
The financial need for surgeries ahead and all that it takes to even get to the US and stay there for a efw months
The thought of a 30 hour travel journey with a 1.5 year old with a tracheostomy and an 8 month old
The daily question of how to guide young Hadassah
So much more…
And it threatens at times.
My flesh says the horizon is threatening to be a foreboding one rather than a Glory one….
But that cannot be.
Because my God is not so.
So I will write these words today to REMEMBER and have HOPE and I know He will transform the forming horizon of the year ahead.
Will you, too?
Remember all that He did this past year?
Paste it like a banner over your doorways.
Write it across your hands so you do not forget it.
Fear not, dear ones, for what is ahead.
For if He was with you behind, He will surely be ahead of you.
So starting off…
January
How fun is this? Adam’s first laugh! The video is actually in the February blog, but I wrote about the laugh here. That was beautiful. After going thru so much…Adam laughed in his dad’s arms in clinic one day. So much fun.
-We also found out we were expecting Elliot this month, but didn’t reveal it to you here in blog world, until March. So here is the first belly picture to remember that:
February
-This was a big month. Adam had his cleft lip repair as well as a major leg surgery this month. Long weeks in the ICU. Found out Adam would have a tracheostomy tube for a year or 2. Overwhelming month for sure.
-And Adam’s laughing video is on this page;)
March
– Announced the coming of Elliot Justice Paulraj;) We could have never imagined all the beauty from this little brother’s life…this family of 3 needed Elliot;)
read here
April
– Many excitements this month: baby showers, Adam passed his swallow test, continued to LOVE lights, and so much more;)
read here
May
– Hot! Overwhelming and exciting month…returned to India.
read here
June
– Real hot! Started adjusting to life back here, were visited by best friends Amanda and Sean, met dear little Hadassah who has become a new house member since then and who confronts us daily with His redemptive powers
read here
July
– Really really hot! Adam got a horrible case of chicken pox, I was real pregnant, Raja was really amazing
read here
August
– We went for a weekend trip to Musoorie where Adam got a horrible case of pneumonia and got admitted to the hospital. It was overwhelming. But the Lord taught us so much during that time…this story of these men wrecked me.
read here
September
–Elliot Justice Paulraj entered the world! Adam turned 1 year old! We moved houses! Mimi, Aunt Gerri, and our South Indian family all came to visit! Big month…My only blog post was a heavy one a few weeks before all the craziness happened…I clearly did not have a lot of time for blogging.
October
– Here I blogged about all the excitement;)
So I will link the whole month of blogs here;)
read here
November
– Adjusting to life with baby without family around to help:( Loving time with our boys together. I reflected on all the love I have for my momma;)
December
–wrote about living in the mundane and hectic moments and counting it JOY, Disability day, and reflected on the Thanksgiving Article written on Adam.
read here
Great is Thy Faithfulness, o God my Father
Yes, we must remember!
You don't know me but I remember reading about every single one of those moments. While you may not know it, your struggles and moments of overcoming and remembering reached a girl in Kansas. 🙂 God Bless you all. Have a wonderful New Year.