Friends,

Last year as we were getting ready to say goodbye to an amazing 2014 and getting ready to ring in 2015 with many resolutions, something was oddly different about New Year’s Eve. I felt strangely different about 2015, about the future. Nothing bad and nothing good. Simply different. Usually I can picture what the coming year might bring and hope, just like everyone else, that it has many blessings in store for us. But I couldn’t picture 2015. It seemed blank to me. Mysteriously blank. I wasn’t sure WHAT was going to happen. That is how I began 2015.

What a surprise!

Only a few days into the year and I found out one cold wintry night that I was pregnant.

The news of course shocked and excited me at once. It made me hopeful and fearful about the future. A child. A boy or a girl. I didn’t know what to expect in the coming months. That is when I realized that there was no way I could’ve predicted the reason behind my strange feelings. This little surprise was the best news of my life and I didn’t know it was waiting for me on 2015. I could not have predicted this.

On October 18th, that mysterious little feeling walked into our lives and Alexandra graced us with her presence. What a precious gift! She added so much joy to my heart! Immediately she stole all of me and kept it all inside her little heart. She breathed what seemed like a new life into my soul. How was I ever alive before this moment? I tried not to dwell on that thought for too long because nothing else mattered. She was finally here and we are beyond blessed.

I have to admit that I was very anxious about the future.  I guess a part of me will always be because that’s what makes us human. The fact that we cannot see the future makes us dread taking any steps forward in to the darkness. We become fearful and don’t know what to expect next. Through most of my pregnancy I worried about a million different things and what life would be like with a baby girl. There were many moments of fear that stole the joy out of my experience to be an expectant mama. And I regret that I lost those moments.  But what I didn’t know is that this special little bundle of joy was brewing very carefully by God and forming in the most mysterious of places to teach me never to doubt God on anything ever.

I learned that He will never leave me or forsake me. He is my one and only provider of all things and faithfully loves me despite my sinfulness. The future is brighter than I can ever imagine it because He is my creator and He will always love me.

Here’s to a bright future as we say goodbye to 2015 and wait patiently for 2016. Whether you are having that mysteriously blank feeling or you know exactly what you are going to do and you can picture the year perfectly clearly, know that God has many wonderful surprises in store. All we need to do is trust Him and know that He is God. I am reminded of Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (NIV)

A big Thank you to Stephanie Tignor Photography for taking these gorgeous photographs of my baby girl!

Happy New Beginnings, friends.