Come Thou Fount of every Blessing. Tune my heart to see thy grace! 2009 blessings and wishes for 2010

I am happy I titled my blog the way I did. "Small but Significant Blessings." Because of this title I feel I need to leave every entry a positive one. Never thought I would really benefit from blogging. I guess I was led to name my blog with such a positive title. It keeps me thinking positive even though times can be hard!

I will say 2009 did not end positively. I am still having complications from the miscarriage. Because of this dreadful event I never thought I would be able to feel positive about 2009 again. But how silly is that? It was only a few days out of a whole year! So many blessings have happened this year!

1. I just spent an amazing year with my husband. We celebrated our one year anniversary December 20. We have gone through so much with each other. So many wonderful things. We got a cute and obnoxious kitty cat name Nannerl or Nanners. We usually just call her kitty. She has been such a wonderful addition to our family.

2. We finally sort of established a home! Yes, we still live in a small 2 bedroom apartment, but yet, it was such an accomplishment for us! I moved in with Marcus when we got married. We were able to move out (it was getting a little sketchy). We got to move in July 15. In this apartment we had what we call our first Christmas. Our first was a course a year ago, but this year wasn't as stressful with balancing familes, work, and a honeymoon.

3. Marcus and I both have jobs. I have the most amazing supervisors and bosses at The Children's Place at Gateway Mall in Lincoln. They are very flexible with my school schedule and just understanding people. Marcus has a wonderful job with Cedars Youth Services. He LOVES it.

4. We were able to afford a small vacation to Salt Lake City Utah to meet new family (for me) and hang out with Liz, who is Marcus's sister. It was tons of fun and we were able to have a small get away.

5. Both Marcus and I had successful recitals on bassoon and horn this year as well. God has blessed us with musical talents as well.

6. Family time was wonderful this Christmas. We were able to be with Marcus's parents and Josh and Sarah Haws and the girls, and I got to spend time with my family, regardless of the winter blizzards. I love my family!

7. Even though I wouldn't call a miscarriage a blessing, it did bring blessings throughout this horrible trial. I have become more spiritually in tune with God. Why maybe he would have taken our baby home so soon before I even got to meet it. It made me trust more in the Lord for the plans that He has. It has brought Marcus and I together even more. I realize that I have a great support system. My family has gotten closer through this and I realized I have an amazing support system in the church.

2009 has been an amazing year. I can not wait for the adventures that 2010 will bring. The first one for sure is baking cookies with my wonderful nieces.

Happy New Year everyone! Many more blessings to come! Just remember to remember those blessings through tough times and even happy times.

Karin Marie