2021

As we close out this year of 2021, I reflect on the high’s and the low’s. My highlights of 2021 include:

January started out with me celebrating my 47th birthday with family and friends watching my favorite superhero – Wonder Woman! It was also our first time back in a movie theater since Spring of 2020.

February brought some historical snow to San Antonio. Valentine’s Day was pure magical as we saw the snow flurries come down and eventually begin to pile up on the ground. We enjoyed the following day with snow all around us. But our joy quickly turned to sorrow as we also lost electricity. Our whole city and state suffered massive power and water outages, which quickly made South Texas go from loving the magical snow to hating the mess!

In June, my last baby graduated from high school. Senior year in quarantine was definitely a struggle for Brandon, and he had moments of depression and senioritis. But he pushed through and finished strong. He is now loving his first year at Palo Alto College.

Jacob is getting ready to finish his last semester at Palo Alto College, and he will transfer to a university. Christian finished up his second-to-last semester at Texas A&M Corpus Christi, where he will graduate in May 2022. Hannah continued in her career in management at HEB, and she was promoted in July.

June brought our church family through some pivotal times. God told us that it was time for us to move from our temporary home and start working hard to get into our permanent home. The big push came, and everyone was on board. We had moments of doubt and discouragement, but God continued to see us through the desert. We did more in 6 months than we had done in 3 years, and we finished our last service of the year with our Grand Opening Celebration Service. We are now in our Promised Land and can enjoy the fruits of our labor.

In July, most of our family went through the most trying time of the year. Christian, Jacob, Danny and I all contracted COVID. Christian and Jacob went through it fairly smoothly and didn’t have major symptoms, but Danny and I had a different experience. For Danny, he had very high fevers that worried us. For me, I was lacking oxygen on one specific day. Our prayer warriors really came through and fought hard for us. So many poured out their love by bringing us food and supplies. It was one of the worst things we went through, but it was a time in our lives that we felt the most loved ever. I thank God that He brought us healing through the deadliest virus of the year. So many others lost someone, and it is by His grace that we are here today.

In November, I went on my first trip outside of Texas that didn’t include my immediate family. It’s something I never imagined I would do, but I learned the importance of Girl Time and time to myself. It was only Louisiana, but I conquered a fear that I had of driving so far without my husband, and now I realize I can do it.

In December, we had our Grand Opening Celebration Service for our ministry, Resurrected Life Church. This was the happiest thing that happened in 2021. After years of praying that my dad would get to see the vision that God placed in his heart years ago, we finally got to see it all come to fruition!

And to end off the year, the one thing I am most proud of this year is that I finished reading the entire Bible! My sisters-in-love and I began this journey together starting in January. I just finished reading today on 12/31. This was so challenging, and many days I didn’t want to continue. But I’m grateful for the support system that I had with my sisters, Cassie & Jen. We stuck it out and encouraged one another. In almost 40 years that I was raised in church and have led a Christian life, I never took on the challenge of reading the entire Bible. This was definitely my biggest accomplishment this year!

Friends & Family, no matter what this new year may bring, always focus on the Goodness of God. He never promised us a perfect life with no storms, but He did promise never to leave us. Set your eyes on Him and surrender to Him in this year. Tomorrow is not promised, so make that decision today!