graciemobile

I am sitting here crunching a very juicy and messy apple. It’s  New Year’s Eve. I can’t believe it, it was only a few months ago that I was sitting in a messy living room reading a book with a sore throat. We were sick, we were sick a lot last year. Mom was playing games with the rest of the kids. It was dark, and the couch cushions were scooted to far out, that really bothers me and affects my attitude more than you may believe. But I was determined that even though we couldn’t go to our New Year’s party that we were going to have a good time. I cleaned the living room, made a sign, and put up some cool blue lights for fun. Daddy picked up some movies to borrow and we had frozen pizza. That was last year. I remember being little and never really understanding what New Year’s Eve was. I got it mixed up with Christmas Eve and I though that New Year’s was the night before Christmas. When I learned the truth I was upset, New Year’s Eve sounded a lot more grand and imposing than Christmas Eve. This year has flown by faster than any other year has, that’s the way it feels to me. It has been a good year, compared to some others that I have had. Such as when my family had to flee from Black Widows that were invading our metal barn dwelling on our beautiful 23 acres. We stayed at one person’s house and then went to another for 2-3 months. We bought a little house in town that needed urban renewal. I didn’t really ever see my Daddy, he went from work, to fixing the house. We were with my mom at my grandparents. Oh it was sad. Our land sold, we had to get rid of our school bus, that was heart breaking. Finally we move into our little house. I think that I didn’t really feel to bothered when we were caravaning all over the state of Missouri. I think that I felt excited, as if I was a heroine in a book or something. But when we moved into the little house in town, I REALLY struggled. Not saying I didn’t like the house, it was a sweet little house. But I missed the land. I felt trapped and caged in our little backyard. Behind our house there was just a field where a new development was going to be. If I stood in the right place I could look out and see a great big hill with a farmhouse and fields. I could pretend there was land. Then a house was built and the view was blocked. I still long for the land, I still pray that God will give me land again. That was probably the worst year I had ever had. It was that year and the one before that when I felt that life was really moving. Everything up until the year I turned 9 just seemed to be a blur. Well, after living in the house for 5 months we found out that my Daddy would soon need to move to South Carolina for 2 weeks out of every month in order to work at the office there for his company’s project. My mom said “NO!” She was not going to have him gone that much, we had barely seen him for months as it was. Then she had an idea, how about Daddy’s company rent us a house in South Carolina and we would all move there for a year. They would all ready be spending thousands for hotels, food, and planes if Daddy did their plan. They happily agreed. Well, we were moving again. At first I panicked, “Leave this beautiful and free state of Missouri to go to a completely new world? All of my friends are here, there’s no snow in South Carolina!” Then I remembered a verse that I had read in a Millie Kieth book. It was something like “I will reveal treasures to you in dark places”. “Okay God, you must have something going on here”. We were sad, broken, and really missed each other. I remember that we went to Zios. Best Italian food ever, we had just gone to the Roy Rogers and Dale Evan’s Museum in Branson. We are big fans. We went to Zios, with extremely swollen eyes. You can’t help it if you heard their life story. All of the tragedy and children they lost. To South Carolina we went! What a change! What a climate! What trees! Oh my. South Carolina was like a big prolonged vacation. We went to museums, we had free passes to the Children’s Museum and the Columbia zoo. We went to Sullivan’s Island, we ate at practically every Cracker Barrel in the South! There was Southern fried chicken, in some of our visits we drove through the Tennessee mountains. And Kentucky! Oh, that was a fairyland. Even before I went there I knew I would like it, are you kidding? Horses and bluegrass! It doesn’t get much better! The only problem was we were alone, no family except for Daddy’s cousin and his family. It was like living on a deserted island with a resort right there. You can have tons of fun, but no fellowship. But there was one good thing about it, we only had each other. That gave us a chance to really get to know one another better. Because of a back problem my Daddy had to work at home. We found a good back treatment that made his back better than ever, he was well rested and happy. He hadn’t been like that in months! We had so many fun field trips! Then we came back to Missouri. Soon afterwards we went to Zios, but this time we were strong, a really happy family.

This year was peaceful, calm, and steady. Here is this year in a glance. I was sick last January for two weeks straight, I couldn’t really sleep at night because of a chest cough. It took me a long time to recover my strength. February was Valentine’s Day, my mom hosted a banquet for some couples that we have over for a Fellowship Group. The food, the decor, oh it was beautiful. We got to watch “Fireproof”, that was a landmark. My mom had her birthday in February too. March was pretty uneventful, April was my baby sister’s 3 birthday. May was the biggest storm ever, a real land hurricane. Then it was my friend’s golden birthday party, that was fun. June was the beginning of summer, and my littlest brother’s, my middle sister’s, and my Daddy’s birthday. In fact, she and Daddy share a birthday! July was more summer and swimming, and my middle brother’s birthday. August was anticipation for school and orchestra, and a surprise birthday party planned for another friend. Then September was my 13th birthday and school started. October was for visiting friends and wearing new sweaters. My older brother also turned 15, time to drive! November was a good old fashioned Thanksgiving. December was Christmas, we weren’t sick this year! It was great.

I stop and look at something or think for a moment and wonder what my life will be like a year later. Well, this year has been a great year. And I hope that next year I can say the same thing. How about you?