A Special Year, and a Great Day . . .

Note: It is hard for me to believe that it has been a year today since I made my first blog post, The Perfect Coffee Mug and the God Who Makes the Impossible Bow. I have so enjoyed this place to share about my life and things God is doing in me and showing me. I can't thank, enough, all of you who have followed it, and all of you who have seeded into my life. I encourage you to continue and to make generous use of the comment feature on the blog—I value what you have to say, and I know that what God has to say through you is of value to others as well. (If you are having trouble making comments you can click HERE for a post I made some time back walking readers through the comment process. If you are just visiting here and have not subscribed your email to receive notifications of new posts I highly recommend it. I know that there are many blogs out there I have good intentions of returning to and often let fade off somewhere, and getting an email that says there is a new post is a blessing to me. You can use the box in the right column to subscribe.)

Yesterday we had a wonderful day at the 15th Annual Oak Shores Kid's Fishing Derby. It is sponsored by Oak Shores Christian Fellowship and is in honor of its founder, Ron McKibben, who loved God, loved kids, and loved fishing. Eighty one kids took part and the weather and the lake (Lake Nacimiento) were perfect.

It was so wonderful to hear Pastor Ed open the derby in prayer and to know that eighty one kids and their families heard thanks lifted to God for His Creation we were about to enjoy, and to hear petitions to God for our safety and enjoyment! God's precious presence was felt there, and I can't say enough how special the atmosphere and day were. Our family was blessed to have our friend Rich Lingor bring his boat over for us to go out on. He helped us fish, and blessed us with his love, patience, and skill.

Bethany caught eight White Bass, a beautiful Catfish, and a really nice Spotted Bass. Abigail had a glorious day, catching 6 White Bass and a prize winning 2.9+ pound Spotted Bass (not to mention winning a really cool pink full-sized fishing pole in the drawing held after the tournament!). Abigail ended up winning the largest bass trophy for the Junior category, and her bass turned out to the largest caught in the whole tournament! Her bass was so big she even placed 3rd overall in the combined weight bass category, competing against others who had caught up to five Spotted Bass total! (The girls actually caught more Spotted Bass, but threw back ones under the 12'' legal size.)

I thank God for the time with my girls, for fellowships like Oak Shores that reach their heart out so generously, for friends like Rich who love our girls and seed in to their lives, and for all of the precious people He has surrounded us with past year who have loved us, had grace for us, encouraged us, and stood beside us. It has been a good year, and a year of deep growing—our first year of homeschooling, the tenth anniversary of my pastoring, our 17th wedding anniversary, a time of wonderful new people coming in to our lives, and a time of pain and hurt as others have left our lives. Through it all, God is good. He is a mighty, awesome, all powerful, all loving God who we have clung to often in this year past, and who is forever faithful and never lets go.