Moving, Ice Storms, and A Happy New Year Word

There is nothing fun about moving (in my opinion) but moving into a new home in a snow and ice storm has made the past month crazy and more crazy! Our scheduled-for-a-month snowy moving day made the job hazardous for the two men in a truck going up and down the icy ramp, as well as challenging to keep their frozen, muddy feet from destroying our carpet. The extra bonus was the fact that my strong, dashingly handsome hubby was out of town on a business trip. Yep, I did the move solo with the help from my best friend and hard-working daughters. We cranked up the tunes from Zoie’s Frozen CD and made the crazy weekend an unwrapping party! The cold never bothered me anyway. We are finally moved in, with only a few boxes left to tackle when the weather warms up.

One of the best parts of starting the new year in a new home are all the new memories we are making as a family. We’ve lived in so many different places over the past two years, having our own space has been surprisingly (whooohoot) refreshing… starting over in a new city, new job, new schools, making new friends in a new community, is a new God-adventure! We sold most of our furniture, so we’ve been sitting on lawn chairs and bean bags! What an example for our children, that it doesn’t matter what stuff you give up, following God’s plan is always the best way to live. However, they have all voiced how excited they are for our new couch to arrive at the end of the month!  I’ve been so proud of how well my three children have handled all the new transitions and faced the challenges of living internationally on the mission field with joy, flexibility, and a big sense of humor!

We enjoyed ringing in the new year with our son home for winter break and visiting family in Colorado. One night, we encouraged every family member to share a new “word” for the new year. It’s like picking a blessing word to focus and pray and meditate over the next twelve months. The Gibson 5 each picked a word and shared it over the dinner table. Everyone came up with something amazing and unique to their personality: order, trailblazer, achieve, courage, and play! (You might be able to guess who picked the word “play”) Zoie just celebrated her 6th birthday with new friends and a big mouse named Chucky!

I believe (just like me) you, dear friends are excited to experience the joys of this new year, 2014 with your big God-sized dreams. Some of you might have new dreams you are praying for, others might be fervently circling dreams as you continue waiting for God to answer this year! God has carefully orchestrated new adventures, new challenges, new beginnings for our families, ministries, professions, and relationships. I’m looking forward to reading your blogs this year and supporting, praying and cheering for opportunities for all of us to serve big and love big in our communities and around the world living out-loud James 1:27. This year, I would love to continue to share your personal stories (be my guest) how you are making a difference with topics like: parenting, adoption, orphan care, and missions! I can’t wait to share my life with you on the blog this year and for you to share your life with me! Join me as I dig deep and focus my  writing on issues that focus on: building a healthy marriage, growing happy and healthy children, celebrating friendships, cooking healthy (gluten free), letting go of expectations and experiencing real joy, as well as finding new projects together that are making a big difference in our world. I’m also excited to share with you the journey of writing my first grown-up book about our mission adventure living in Ethiopia, Haiti, and Nicaragua and the life-changing lessons God taught me along the way to… do it afraid! “If you’ve never had a God-sized dream that scared you half to death, then you  haven’t really come to life. If you’ve never been overwhelmed by the impossibility of your plans, then your God is too small. -Mark Batterson, The Circle Maker

What is your new word for the new year?