The Seventh of April

I think April 7th will always be a date that sticks in the back of my mind as a significant date.

Two years ago, April 2008 was the last month of our "good life" as we've been seeing it. For two years we've had trial after trial after trial.

A year ago was the due date of our miscarried baby. An entire year has passed by since we left our home in San Antonio behind to start on a new and unknown chapter in our lives.

It was a strange and sad morning as we drove out of the still dark city. My mind wondered if this unexpected change in our lives was the reason I was not able to carry that baby? If I had been that far pregnant I would not have been able to drive across country to our new lives. For how long had the Lord had this event in store for us? What did he have for our future?

Tears streamed down our faces as we drove off in to the dark. Even though we had an end point, my parents' house in Montana; we felt like we were driving in to the unknown. We didn't know if Dirk was going to be able to go to school, or how we would support ourselves or where we would live, or why we weren't blessed with a new baby. We didn't know if our house that had been on the market for over a month would ever sell, and for how long we would continue to have to pay a mortgage on a place we didn't live in.

It was a very difficult point in our lives. We had very little hope and faith left that things would turn for the better. We'd been dragged down for so long we didn't know if it could get any worse.
We learned that yes, indeed it could. This last year has definitely been a huge trial for us. We are grateful things are starting to look up in so many ways. We held on to that tiny little thread of hope and faith we knew we should have. We prayed and pleaded with the Lord on many occasions. Often times we thought he'd abandoned us or let us down. We now know he was only making us stronger.

I am so grateful for the trials the last 2 years has brought to us. They have only made us stronger in so many ways. I think the most significant strength we've gained is great reliance upon the Lord. And for that I am thankful.

We now have a beautiful baby girl. After a year of chaos, Hayden is just now starting to feel a little settled (but is still struggling with it). Dirk is well into his schooling and has finally found a wonderful job that he loves. We are getting our debt paid off and are finally feeling like we can enjoy our lives again.