I'm 28! (A look back on the year)

On my birthday I like to look back at the year that has passed and think about what big events happened in my life that year and what I learned from them. Some good, some bad, but I always learn something and feel like I’ve grown since the year before. (And I don’t mean my belly.) Three major things come to mind for this year: A broken relationship, the death of my grandmother and my first pregnancy.

Without going into details about the broken relationship, I definitely know that God has taught me much from it and grown me through it in many ways. The issue happened one year ago to the day, on my 27th birthday. Over the past year I have studied and learned the principal of forgiveness like never before. I’ve really been able to wrap my mind around the fact that, if Jesus forgave all my sins against Him, how could I not forgive someone’s sins against me? It has taken me about a year to get to the point of forgiveness, and God still works on me daily, but the journey, though very rough, has taught me so much that I actually can say now that, “It was good for me that I was afflicted, that I may learn your statutes.” – Psalm 119:11

My grandmother went downhill pretty fast before she died. And for the first time in my life, I watched someone die. She passed away just four days before Christmas. Though this Christmas was kind of tough for my family, it was a wonderful comfort knowing that my grandmother was well and at peace, spending Christmas with her Savior. I loved her and I miss her every day, but I know that I will see her again.

About a month after my grandmother died is when I found out I was pregnant. It was a bit of a shock and I will never forget staring at that pregnancy test and feeling like it wasn’t real. My pregnancy has been like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. It has been a wonderful blessing from God and I cannot wait to see my little boy in just two months. This is such a new thing for Matthew and myself and though things have been pretty hectic over the past few months, I can’t help but be overwhelmed every day with the thought of God’s goodness, love and mercy.

One of God’s great blessings to me are the people He has put in my life. I don’t know where I would be without my wonderful husband, Matthew. He has truly been more than I could ever hope or dream for in a husband and I feel so unworthy and blessed to have him in my life. I cannot wait to experience this next, exciting stage of life with him and to grow old with him. My parents and family have meant so much to me as well. My parents mean more to me than they will ever know and I can’t wait to see them as first-time grandparents. They will be great at it! They have taught me so much over the years and I am learning from them still. What wonderful examples they are. I have some great friends as well. I have old friends and new friends and I love them all. They all play a vital part in my life. Some of them are there to give me a laugh right when I need it most. Some are always fighting the good fight and praying for me. Some are there any time with an ear to listen. They all love me for who I am and I am grateful for that.

So, as I look back on this 28th year of my life I can say, God has been so good to me and I am enormously thankful. I hope I can serve Him well in the year to come.
Love to all,
Lacy

You Have Been Good
If I never get to see another rainbow
Or share another laugh with a friend
If I never stand barefoot by the ocean
Or get to kiss my child goodnight again
If I never have another prayer that's answered
Or have another blessing come my way
If this is all I know of heaven's kindness
Father, I would still have to say

You have been good
You have been good
And I am in wonder how could it be
You have been good
You've been so good
So many ways You've been good to me

You have shown me mercy upon mercy
Grace upon grace, time after time
And I know all too well what I'm deserving
Yet, You are still so patient and kind

You have been good
You have been good
And I am in wonder how could it be
You have been good
You've been so good
So many ways You've been good to me

If suddenly it all were ended
And your mercies disappeared
Looking back over a lifetime
The evidence is clear

You have been good
You have been good
And I am in wonder how could it be
You have been good
You've been so good
So many ways You've been good to me
Scott Krippayne

Baby Time

We found out on January 23rd that we are going to have a baby! It’s been four months now since we found out and we are so excited and I am growing in the middle. :-) Matthew and I have been married for four years and I am so glad we got that time to share between the two of us. God has perfect timing! I had been struggling with what to do next in my life and had really been praying about it. It didn’t take long for Him to show me! I really love being pregnant. Yes, it has its downsides, but my pregnancy has been great, for the most part. It is so wonderful to feel the little baby moving inside of me. It is so amazing to think about God forming a human inside of my body. I choke up every time I even think about it. We find out in two days if it’s a boy or girl! We can’t wait! We both kinda wanted a boy first, but now we don’t care what it is, as long as it’s ok. I know this is kind of all over the place, but I just have so many emotions that it’s hard to get it all organized on paper. I am so blessed and I want to enjoy every second of it.

When I Get Where I'm Going

On December 21st, 2009 at approximately 7:25am, in a room on the 4th floor of St. Vincent’s East Hospital in Birmingham, AL, I watched as my grandmother passed over to the other side. This was the first time I have ever seen anyone die. The moment was something that I never want to experience again, but there was something very surreal about it. As the tears came, I turned my back to everything else in the room and looked out the window at the rising sun. It was beautiful as the colors cascaded over the mountain tops. I tried to see through the tears and look as far as my eyes could see over the horizon as I imagined my grandmother arriving at Heaven’s gates. Knowing she was here on earth with her loved ones one second and in a perfect place the next was bitter-sweet, to say the least. God put a song in my head to ease the pain and to make me think even deeper about what I had witnessed. The chorus of that song played over and over in my head before I even left the hospital that day, on my way home and for the next few days to come. It is a beautiful song sung by Brad Paisley & Dolly Parton called ‘When I Get Where I’m Going.’ The chorus of that song is: “When I get where I'm going, There'll be only happy tears. I will shed the sins and struggles I have carried all these years. And I'll leave my heart wide open. I will love and have no fear. Yeah when I get where I'm going, Don't cry for me down here.” I thought about how wonderful that will be to “shed the sins and struggles I have carried all these years.” How wonderful it will be to have no more pain, no more suffering, no more hate, no more pride, no more fear, to have no one treat me mean or talk hateful to me ever again, to have no one lie to me, to have no one misunderstand me, to have no one falsely accuse me, to have no one see me any less than how Jesus sees me. And best of all, I will be in the presents of The Most High. How wonderful that will be! The more I ponder these things, the more I long to be at my Savior’s feet. I am very thankful for the time I got to spend with my grandmother the last year of her life. I did not have a job all of 2009, but time is so much more precious than money ever will be and no one can tell me any different. A couple of days later, the day of my grandmother’s funeral, another part of the song played through my head: “So much pain and so much darkness, In this world we stumble through. All these questions I can't answer, So much work to do. But when I get where I'm going, And I see my Maker's face, I'll stand forever in the light of His amazing grace.” I can’t wait to stand forever in that light. And I can’t wait to see my grandmother once again. “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surly I am coming quickly.’ Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!” ~ Rev. 22:20