These last few weeks our family has been talking, as we entered 2018, about 2017 and all that it entailed.  It was quite a year on so many fronts!  There were difficult days (actually some really difficult days) but our faithful God, who has never failed us in the past, remained astoundingly faithful throughout all of 2017 – even on the most trying of days!

You know friends there will always be opportunities to worry, fear and fret but we choose to head back to our Memorial Box for constant reminders of all the Lord has done for us.  Each Friday, during our Bible study, we talk about a story or two from our Memorial Box to keep our focus on all the ways He has protected, provided, rescued and surprised us with His generous love.

We share a few of the highlights of this past year for our family, which will hopefully trigger reminders of all God has done for you as well!

The year started off with the joyful arrival of grandtreasure number eight!  March 2nd is a banner day for our family – it now holds the birthdays of this handsome little guy, Abigail (our oldest daughter) and our oldest granddaughter.  No doubt three birthdays on March 2nd make it all so much easier to remember!

In the spring, after being very sick for a couple of weeks and a second trip to the ER, we found I was actually in liver failure and was admitted immediately to the hospital.  Although the liver transplant specialist was not extremely hopeful (and I was too sick to understand just how sick I was) Dw knew you, our friends, cared and would pray!  He posted on the blog an urgent, but vague need for prayer and no doubt you all sprung into action!  Within a couple of days, things began to turn around and God’s healing power was evident as He miraculously spared my life. Thank you friends for being part of our miracle – which is the only thing it was!

I wrote in detail about the liver failure in my second book which was published (Yippee Jesus!) in July and can be found on Amazon in book form or Kindle version here:   The Memorial Box

This year also brought about a giant shift in our lives after reading this book:

We knew the Lord was whispering and we couldn’t obey fast enough, although it was a ton of work to get to where we needed to be.  Brother Andrew’s story was so powerful and changed our life in ways we hadn’t imagined.   You can find a copy through the link The Reader’s Corner on the sidebar.  Consider yourself warned:  You will never be the same again!

When we spoke across the country this past summer I shared about a family situation that we have been praying for for many years.  It is a personal story for our family but something that has been at the forefront of all our prayers for many years.  Not a day has passed that we have not gone to the Lord about this concern, having fasted about it regularly, knowing that one day our promise-keeping God would move – we just had no idea when.  “When” is hard and it had been years!

The crazy thing was that as I lay in the hospital, listening to “He Made a Way” and with my health very uncertain totally out of the blue, God moved in the other situation.  It had nothing to do with my health in any way.  But BAM! and just like that God moved on our family’s behalf in a gigantically huge, enormous way! Prayer changes the most desperate of situations friends!

What struck me, in a new way, is that our faithful God performs miracles.  He is not a “you get one big miracle in your lifetime” type of God.  He is also not a “you each get one big miracle a year” God.  Nor is He even, “you get one big miracle at a time”.

No, He loves us unconditionally, He moves on our behalf and He is always, always, always at work around us and as wild as it sounds – He is totally up to two or ten miracles all at the same time!!   

May brought not only the miraculous healing of my liver and His miraculous move to our private family situation when we least expected it – basically at the exact same time!  If you haven’t listened to Made a Way, you must!  This powerful worship song can be found here:  Made a Way  

Summer brought a precious baby girl, Esther, to The Gem Foundation.  Esther was thought to have hydrocephalus, but after being examined and many tests it was found that she actually had a serious brain bleed which was deemed inoperable and she was given little hope.  Again, you, my precious friends, sprung into action for sweet baby Esther.  Our astoundingly faithful and merciful God moved and sweet Esther is thriving!  Thriving friends!  Thriving!  We cannot thank you enough for praying for sweet Esther – she is a miracle through and through!  If you think of her, your prayers are still appreciated!

Fall brought another sweet joy – our 9th grandtreasure and third granddaughter!

There were many, many other miracles and surprises from the Lord – too many to mention in one post.  But there is no doubt we look to 2018 with gratefulness that He has remained faithful to our family and that we can trust Him for the days ahead.  He is always trustworthy to those who love and obey Him and prayer powerfully changes the most desperate situations.