Mike & Becky: the Coach & the Counselor: January 2010

Well apparently a New Year's resolution of mine for 2010 needs to be to update my blog more! I thought to end 2009 I would recap our year...it was a rough one for us, I have to say, but we can definitely still rejoice in all of the ways the Lord has blessed us this year as well! So here goes...

Let's start with the bad, so I can get it out of the way and end this post on a good note! :)

1. Obviously, first on the bad list is losing my Dad on June 7, 2009. It was so sudden and unexpected and really shook our family. Apparently, it was due to his emphysema, although he had been dealing with that for 2 years prior to his death. This is the second family member I have lost to cigarettes (my papa in middle school) so if you are reading this, beg anyone you know that smokes to stop! :) It's been rough going through all of the "firsts" this year without Dad, but I hope and pray He is with the Lord in a much better place now!

2. The next would have to be losing my Great Gran in October, 4 months after losing Dad. Great Gran was an amazing lady and such an important part of the Smith family. She died just a month and a half short of her 100th birthday, but she lived a long, wonderful life and I know she is rejoicing with her Savior, being reunited with her husband, 2 sons and 2 grandsons. All in all she had 3 sons, 9 grandchildren, 19 great grandchildren, and 4 great-great grandchildren! She was truly blessed and is truly missed!

3. My crazy sicknesses in 2009 have to make the list...I mean I always have been pretty succeptible to illness, but this year was ridiculous! It began with my awful food poisioning that turned into an abdominal infection, then later a second bout of food poisioning, bronchitis after my Dad died, 2 sinus infections and a cold! The second sinus infection I have now will hopefully be the last for awhile!

4. The shadiness at Crowley ISD...it has been getting worse and worse, but now with the principal and Mike's head football coach getting fired and the superintendent high-tailing it out of town, we think it's time to leave. We hate that Mike may have to leave behind his awesome FCA program, but we know the Lord can use him anywhere he goes!

5. The Leidners moving to Lubbock-even though it has been a great thing for Christen and Ronnie, and we know it was the Lord's plan, it has been hard to go from seeing them everyday to every couple of months! It was so awesome having them 5 minutes away, and I know it probably won't be that way ever again, so I will just cherish the 2 years they lived so close! :)

NOW...on to the good things from 2009!

1. Mike won Teacher of the Year! Although Mike tries to minimize this achievement by saying he won the award voted by the students and not the teachers, I take pride in this award because it reinforced to me even more how amazing Mike is at impacting high school kids! I know teaching and coaching is his calling for sure, and I am so proud of him!

2. We took lots of great trips this summer! Mike and I had an amazing anniversary trip to San Antonio, we took a fun road trip to Lubbock/Colorado with Christen and Ronnie, and ended the summer with an awesome trip to Boston with my parents to see Rick's daughter, son-in-law and beautiful kids! We were so blessed to have the means and the time to take these trips and had so much fun!

3. My amazing job! I celebrated one year with PCHAS this October, and I have been truly blessed by this agency and the people I work with! They supported me through the rough times personally, with at least one person from PCHAS coming to my Dad and Great Gran'a funerals. My awesome supervisor and co-workers allowed me to vent to and learn from them, and I truly feel that I have grown so much as a person and a therapist this year. I am so thankful that I can say that I LOVE my job! What a blessing!

4. My husband-Mike has always been such a blessing to me, but this year he has really come through for me during the hard times. He is such an amazing husband and seeks the Lord with all of his heart. He has been such a rock and comforter to me this year, but he also reminds me to continuously rely on the Lord and seek my ultimate strength from Him. I am so thankful for my husband and my marriage.

5. All of my friends who had beautiful babies/getting pregnant this year! I may not include them all because there are so many, but will include those dearest to my heart! Shea had little Anslee in January, Nikki had London and Holland had Kyla in April, Kendall had Hadley in June. I also got to know Kendra's little girl Kesley better even though she was born in 2008! Also, my girls from Northwood, Deborah and Joy, became pregnant and will be having a little boy and little girl (respectively) to add to our home group! Also, 2 of my co-workers are pregnant after several miscarriages, so we rejoice with them! I have also been blessed to be around Mike and Colleen's little girl Julia and see her grow and change so much! Although we are not expanding our family just yet, it has been so much fun to rejoice and play with all of my friends who have been blessed with little ones this year! :)

I think that about wraps up our 2009! It was a long post to make up for not blogging for over a month! This year had it's ups and downs, but overall we are blessed beyond measure and look forward to more great things in 2010!

With love, Mike & Becky

-- Post From Becky's iPhone