A Gift of Hope

365 days ago God gave me a gift, and boy, it sure has been a spit-up and dirty-diaper-filled year! I am confident in saying that since September 11th, 2011 Josh and I have smiled brighter and wider smiles than we ever had before. Isn't that the amazing thing about love? I know I smiled at Josh on our wedding day. I know I was overjoyed to marry him, and I'm pretty sure he was psyched to marry me, too. But our love for each other was great enough to create a new life and now we're smiling even bigger. God has been very good to us.

On my first day back from maternity leave, I shared on the air that I really had this overwhelming feeling of gratitude when I looked at my son. I knew that the work of God's hands had been placed in my arms. What an honor! But I have to continually remind myself that he's a loaner! God has just entrusted him to me to care for. If for some reason we only had this year together I could say with 100% confidence that it's been the most wonderfully grace-filled year of my life.

I was chatting with my sister & she said that her first thought this morning wasn't, "It's the anniversary of 9/11" but instead, "It's my nephew's birthday!" She was grateful that she had a new focus on this day that for so many can be filled with feelings of despair and sadness. I pray that everyone has a "Liam" who can give them hope on days that otherwise would be filled with hurt.

Here are a couple of pics to bookend this wonderful year. The first is the first time Liam and I checked each other out. What a moment (except for the arm fat)! I love my red nose. A red nose on me is the sign tears are coming. I've always hated my crying face. I'm an ugly crier. But Liam's nose turns bright red when he is about to cry, so now I love it. But that's a topic for another blog.

The second picture is from last week. It's not the best quality, but I love his little ear and his fat little legs. I hope he is always a lover of books and learning.

Thank you for the prayers & support throughout this year.