To Sum Up 2009...The Journey Within...

For those of you who have been in my life this past year know our journey...and, man, what a journey it has been. Just a little recap...we started the year out with a new addition, our sweet little baby boy, Cobin James, who was born January 15th, 2009. Then, about 3 hours after he was born, I was struck with the upsetting news that my husband, David, had been laid off from his job THAT day. That was tough to hear, but, I didn't want it to take away from the gift that we had received that day....our precious baby boy!!
Over the course of the first several months that followed, it was a difficult time for me. I didn't understand why this had to happen to us. Many thoughts ran through my mind..."What should be our next step?", "How could we possibly afford to take care of our child?", "How can we afford to pay our bills, mortgage, etc...?"! We prayed and hoped and prayed some more...all the while, David was applying left and right for jobs...but, still nothing!
We had AMAZING friends who helped us through this time of need with things like diapers, wipes, gift cards, etc....our church family was there for us (and still is...), also! We couldn't have felt a more outpouring of love if we tried!
But, through it all, all that I kept hearing was that I just needed to "Trust the Lord..." and that He (God) won't "forsake His children or let their seed beg for bread..." Being how I was raised in the church, I knew how the verses went...but, to put all that head knowledge to practice now? Let me be honest...that was one of the hardest things that I have ever had to learn. And, through it all, I was just expecting the Lord to come riding on His horse with His shining armour on and rescue us from these hardships and struggles. I remember saying, "there is no way God would allow us to go through this for Him to just NOT come and save the day and put things back together again".
Throughout this past year, I have gotten to meet people with worst situations than us. I visited a lady in the hospital who went paralyzed in March, who was stuck in the hospital for many, many months. I was able to be a blessing to people through different outreach projects and events. I learned that, regardless of our situation, I was genuinely blessed!
Well, after 7 months of searching for a job, David finally landed one...thank God! It was a rather lower paying job, but nevertheless, it was a job!! That means we're done, right? No more struggles....right? Ha ha...yeah, not quite...God was not done with me. There was more that I needed to learn. The "wordly" treasures that I held so dear and close?? Well, it's just stuff....and, well....I needed to learn to let go of it. So, this year, we made the decision to give it up and let God take control of it...ALL OF IT! We decided to go ahead and try and 'short sale' our home because we were too behind financially that we could no longer make payments. We decided that we just needed to let it all go and allow God to do as He will...besides, it's all His anyway, right?
I am letting go and letting God! It has been a hard lesson to learn, but, I know I would not be who I am if it weren't for Him. He is refining me into His mold, which is WAY better than anything that I could make myself! And, I know that I am not perfect, but, I am learning each and everyday. And, while 2009 was a tough year for us, the lesson I learned through it was invaluable and I would not change a thing! I had been WAY too comfortable up until that point.

I am thankful for the journey that He has taken me on. What a trip!!!!

HERE'S TO AN AMAZING 2010!!!! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

Love,
Krystal Gracy

Tough Times!!

I was not sure I even wanted to blog this as once we get through this, I will never want to think about this again. We, my husband and I, are victims of the economy. The DAY our new baby was born, my husband lost his job and a mere 6 months later, we are still in the same boat and things are more stressful than ever. Bills have to be paid and we have to eat and our son needs diapers and neither of us have a job. I was REALLY hoping to be a stay-at-home mom, but, now, I find myself filling out applications to be a server at a restaurant just to try and make ends meet. Our situation has wreaked havoc on our lives...and, while I am "trying" to stay positive and trust God, I struggle daily because I have no clue what is going to happen...and, come on, let's be honest, we are all human and when it comes to our well-being, daily I fall on my knees asking God why he has not answered our prayers. I don't really know how much more I can take. I feel bad when I express my struggle to David because I know that he feels bad about this whole situation...so, there it is, folks...I am at a loss for words as to what to do. I am hurting because even though God has provided through people in our lives, which has been amazing, I don't know how we are going to possibly pull through this. I don't feel like I am strong enough to deal with this. i really hope God pulls through for us.

Five and a half months of awesomeness!

Sooo, on January 15, 2009, our lives changed forever!! I gave birth to a beautiful, 6 pound, 14 ounce, 21 inches long baby boy...we named him "Cobin James"...he has blonde hair and big, blue eyes! He was the most gorgeous thing I have ever seen! He wasn't due until January 27th, but he decided to come early. At around 5:45 in the morning, my water broke, so I jumped out of bed and David knew what was up. We called all of our family members to let them know. So, we grabbed all of our stuff we needed and we headed over to the hospital. I never dilated more than half a centimeter the whole time, so finally the doctor decided that it would be better to just perform a C-Section to get him out, so at 7:34 PM on that wonderful Thursday evening, he came into this world!
He had tons of visitors...especially from our awesome church!

He is getting such a personality! He is so sweet...he has such a laid-back personality...very easy-going! I really hope that he stays this sweet! When he smiles, he just melts my heart! He is amazing in SO many ways!
He is rolling over now. He loves when we read books to him...his favorite song is "Fools Rush In" by Elvis Presley! We have just started putting him on some baby food and he is loving it! He loves to cuddle and rock on the rocking chair. He also loves to go on walks and to be tickled. He is always a little hesitant, at first, about swimming, but then he just gets so hyper and kicks and squeals and splashes! He enjoys it very much!

We never knew we could love someone as much as we love our little Cobin! He is an amazing baby...I look forward to what he will do next! <3