My Growth Chart

This week, we leave for family camp with our church. It's the third year now for our family, and has become a tradition for the weekend after Father's Day.

As I pack sleeping bags and clothes, I remark how life has changed in the past three years. Family camp is like a measuring stick, marking the growth in my life.

Three years ago, we were new at Valley Bible Church. Friends invited us to join them at the camp, but my husband was unemployed, and even a hundred dollars was too much for us to spend on a family vacation. We had just decided to move in with my in-laws, and my heart was battling my deep emotions of being pregnant and leaving what I considered my 'home'. Trusting God was a daily lesson.

Two years ago, my husband was finishing a year of teaching at his new job, we had a healthy ten-month-old baby boy, and we were itching to move out of my in-laws' house. I had spent a year of learning how to live with different personalities, how to love and forgive, and I was tired. The next step was to find a rental that was affordable yet accommodating for our growing family, and I had to leave for camp with an application pending. It took all my will to keep my mind off of the phone call I wanted to get when I got home. I had to let it go, along with my anxiety. It was our first year at the camp, and I had a great time! (I wrote out the complete story last year, if you'd like to read it: Home is where...)

One year ago, we were enjoying our new home, and I was just settling in when I found out I was pregnant. I thought I had learned all about trusting God, but this news revealed to me that I had not yet learned to rely completely on God. Through much prayer, I was able to be in a place of peace by the time family camp rolled around. (Here also is the complete story from that time: Trust in the Author)

And this year, I've completed another year of homeschooling, the first time with five children total. It was a year of learning patience (again) and trust in God (again) as we hit a few financial speed bumps. Even though sometimes I feel like I'm learning the same lessons again and again, I do see the growth in me. I'm quicker to rely on God now, and quicker to let things go. And that's a good thing, since I don't know what tomorrow brings, besides leaving for family camp!