From 2000 to 2010; what a difference 10 years makes!

2009 is gone and 2010 is here! As I've been thinking back on the last ten years (the last five especially).....oh, so much has happened! Our family has changed dramatically, friends have come and gone, jobs have changed and so much more!

In that year of 2000, who knew that...

...I would work at Southgate Fabriques for 7 years, starting out knowing so little and working my way to teacher, store manager and now owning my own business in that same field.

...the statement I made the summer before would be proven totally false. Yeah, I only stated so firmly to my sisters, "I enjoy sewing, but it's not something I would want to do every single day."

...my first plane flight would be to Washington D.C. for a Bernina sewing machine convention in 2001. And that was before 9/11 and all the security was of the utmost importance.

...I would buy my first sewing/embroidery machine - a Bernina 180, soon to be followed by three other machines.

...a car phone the size of a letter size sheet of paper would turn into a cell phone that could handle photos, texting, email and much more only being the size of a credit card. And that we have become so reliant on that piece of technology.

...Jena would graduate as a LPN and later as a RN (well, we did know she would eventually do that!), work at at the Women's Center in Dodge and then work at Meade Hospital, all the while loving her job!

...Krissa would decide print journalism was her field of expertise and would attend BJU.

...we would spend hours on the road taking Krissa to and from BJU and attending her graduation. I can so clearly recall Mom looking forward to that moment and then as it turned out, she wasn't here when she graduated.

...we would move in a three story house just down the road and Dad would remodel it to use as a rental house.

...Grandma and Grandpa would celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary and then Grandpa would only be with us for a few months after that.

...our family would be hit with a huge blow of discovering Mom's brain tumor and three months later watching her step into her eternal home. Only 10 months after Grandpa was gone.

...Krissa would move to Birmingham, Alabama (Mom would have loved knowing Krissa was in the same city where she lived for several years.) to intern at Southern Accents for 6 months.

...I would buy my very first laptop computer. And now to think I can't live without it. Well, not that original one.

...technology could change so much. To the point where it would be the basis of my business; from buying and selling to teaching online to students in other countries.

...watching Dad loose Mom would be the hardest thing I've ever been through. And how that loosing someone changes your entire outlook on life.

...I would unexpectedly find "someone just like me", named Joanna, in the most unusual circumstances, proving that God brings just the right person into my life when I didn't even know she was needed.

...Krissa would travel to California before settling in Lexington, KY, working for of all things - a farming magazine. She can't seem to get away from "the farm".

...Jena would move to Oklahoma City to fulfill her dream of working in a NICU at Children's OU.

...attending Camp Good News every summer would still be happening. Even though it's dwindled to only me, myself and I instead of all three of us.

...a certain person named Ryan would come into Krissa's life and our family would return to the happy number of five. (Becoming official this year!)

...and through it all God has remained faithful!

God has allowed hardships and struggles in our lives and yet in so many ways blessed us as well. As I look forward to the next year and following years after that, I can't begin to imagine what they will hold. Just as 1o years ago, who would have known the above. I'm thankful that even though I don't know and nor care to know, God does. And through the fun times and difficult moments, He continues to be the same unchanging, awesome God that He is.