High Five for 2022!

What a year! As I always do, let’s walk through the year and recap the main highlights from each month. You’ll get to see how our adoption journey progressed through the year along with all the other blessings that God provided for us to enjoy.

January: our nine inch snowfall!

February: A fun weekend visit with my sister, eating, shopping and laughing our way through our favorite local spots.

March: #RefereeWifeLife travel with Paul for lacrosse season.

April: Easter Sunday with the Ham Fam! This is also the month that our adoption home study was approved and we were officially eligible to be adoptive parents.

May: I got to experience God’s grace and kindness through days of sickness. Read about that here.

June: Our mini vacation to Lake Keowee!

July: We spent the 4th with the Ham Fam and had the best time. As we were driving to Tennessee for the weekend, I got an email about three siblings that needed a home. The email said “We hesitated to even ask about this, but would you be interested in learning more?” We said YES – and those are the three siblings who are now a part of our family. ❤

August: A weekend sleepover with my precious nephews. This is a special memory with them that I will always cherish. These boys are now so excited to have cousins, by the way. 🙂 They’ve been praying all year for God to “give Auntie and Uncle Paul some kids” and I know God answered their prayer!

September: This month started with our annual Ham Fam Vacation in Pigeon Forge. In September we were interviewed over Zoom as the potential adoptive parents for our children! Here’s the picture from that day. Read more about that in my October adoption update.

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October: Paul officiated a lacrosse tournament at Duke. That was a fun trip and one I’m so glad I got to experience with him.

November: SO MUCH happened this month! We got to meet our sweet children, we set up their rooms and they spent Thanksgiving weekend with us. Read more about that in my November adoption update.

This picture of Paul reading a Bible story with our family gathered around the table truly reflects our hearts during this time. Paul and I are leaning in to our Heavenly Father – more than ever before – as we earnestly try to point our family back to our good Father. This season of transition is sweet, joyful, hard, and very emotional. In it all, we get to walk closely with Jesus and that is truly where we find our joy.

December: My mom hosted a virtual adoption shower for us, and we were overwhelmed with the kindness and generosity of so many friends and family! We saved the boxes for our kiddos to open during their weekend visits and it was a tangible way to show them how much they are loved, not only by us and our friends and family, but by God. Thank you!

My parents also hosted an adoption celebration in their home, so that we could be with the sweet friends from their church (many that I ‘ve known since high school) who have been praying with us over the past year and a half.

We squeezed in a couple Ham Fam meals during the weekend and had the best time together. Mom is already trying to figure out how to seat all ELEVEN of us at our next Ham Fam meal! ❤

We celebrated Christmas as a family of five! Read my Christmas recap post here.

This was a year of waiting. I was always waiting to hear back from a social worker, waiting on someone to approve paperwork, waiting to find out if we were a match for a child, waiting waiting waiting. I’m the most impatient control freak ever, yet God’s Word sustained me through a year of waiting.

There were several big things I gained from my Bible reading this year, but overall the verse that seems to be the theme for 2022 is Isaiah 37:26: Have you not heard? I designed it long ago; I planned it in days gone by. I have now brought it to pass.

God’s long view and sovereign rule over our lives is such a comfort to me. I prayed this verse often during the year. “Lord, you know who you want us to adopt – you planned it in days gone by and you will bring it to pass.”

The context of this passage in Isaiah involves lots of unpleasant circumstances, and it involves both those who are God’s people and those who are outside of his family. I’m so thankful that God is sovereign over all these things and uses them in his perfect design of our lives.

Read More: What To Do While You’re Waiting

We end this year as parents of three precious kiddos. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. He gives the barren woman a household, making her the joyful mother of children. Hallelujah! (Psalm 113:9)

What’s next? I work as the office administrator for a local church, and they’ve generously given me an adoption maternity leave. At this point, I don’t know what my post-maternity-leave work life will be. I plan to also take a leave from blogging during January as we get settled into school routines.

Popular Posts from 2022:

• Our Hall Bathroom Renovation and My Honest Review of Bath Fitter
• Responding To Your Assumptions About Me
• Why I Am Always Ready for Company
• Thoughtful and Easy Care Packages: Under $40 Shipped!
• 10 Years in Our Home
• When People Throw Your Failures in Your Face

Thank you for following along this year! I am so grateful for you and I can’t wait to get back to the blog in February. Make sure you’re subscribed to my email newsletter – that’s the best place to keep up with adoption or blog updates.

One last thing: did you read the Bible with me this year? If so, please leave a comment and let me know. I want to celebrate with you! Click here to find out how you can join me in reading the Bible in 2023.

Happy New Year! God’s faithfulness to His promises in 2022 gives me hope for 2023!

Previous Year-End Highlights: 2021 | 2020 | 2019| 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013