Virtual Christmas Letter

It seems like writing a Christmas letter is the thing to do when you have kids. So, I'd like to share a few things from this past year, specifically the ways that God has provided for us.

Early this spring, when Ryan and I had decided to move to Texas to have our baby here, I had to make a decision about leaving my job at the university. I loved my job, and it was very difficult to tell my department chair that I wouldn't be returning. However, we were trusting God to provide for us in a new chapter of our lives.

Then this summer, we put our house on the market and moved away to Texas. God provided a buyer shortly after we moved. It is a difficult market for sellers in the midwest, and we had lived in the house less than two years. However, we were able to get back our whole downpayment that we had put down on the house. God was faithful.

It was difficult to trust God as my due date approached, and Ryan hadn't yet gotten a teaching job. My due date was 8/22, and our insurance was due to end on 8/31. However, we knew that God would provide all that we needed. I had a doula that I was going to use for my labor and delivery. Unexpectedly, I got called to work two days at my on-call financial job the week before my due date. The amount I made from those two days working was the amount I needed to pay my doula. God had also given Ryan a great summer job working at the Cowgirl Hall of Fame. He blessed us with a beautiful home in which to live without cost from July to October. So, we waited on God in faith.

On August 16, Ryan was offered his teaching job. Because it was a job at an urban district and because he had two coaching positions, his salary is more than sufficient to provide for our family. The health insurance from his job would begin the day after mine ended. Even better, because Molly wasn't born until September 8, I purchased COBRA so that we would have dual coverage for the labor, delivery, first weeks of Molly's life, and my unanticipated "surgery". This saved us over a thousand dollars.

God's greatest gifts to us are the birth of our lovely daughter, the love of friends and family, good health, and the birth of Jesus that we celebrate today. Merry Christmas!