Here we are, about to turn the calendars over again. Really? Another year is about to be completed. In the big picture of our country, this year has felt like a continuous punch to the face. I mean...Donald Trump is our President elect. I'm not even going down that road.
But instead of focusing on the face punches, I want a highlight reel for the Tomberlins.
Community Group- For the first time since we got married, we had a full year of committed and consistent community group. It was amazing. We had to really fight for this, but it.was.worth.it. We've had 2 couples welcome babies. Two couples bought their first houses. One couple walked through unthinkable heartache over the summer. We've eaten together, laughed together, grown together, served each other, prayed for each other, and after 12 months, we still really, really like each other. It's been a gift I didn't know we so badly needed.
We bought a house. Though I really, really thought this wasn't going to happen in 2016, it did! We bought a house in the neighborhood we loved on the very first day of looking at houses. There's been a lot of pros and cons to home ownership, and our to-do list is still about a mile long. But we have loved having a space that is ours. We get to do projects around our house, and though we often feel like our finances will never support our dreams for this place, we enjoy investing time and effort into our space.
One of the things that's really marked our life post house buying is that we enjoy and try to regularly open our home and table to others. Right now over our table it says, "Give thanks." But my heart for our kitchen table is that there's always room for you to belong here. I love having people over for dinner, not in an entertaining sort of way. I never do it fancy. And sometimes it actually does sound fun to make everything look just right, but I've learned to try to let people come be a part of our table as is (though, I do usually wipe it down). I have several meals that are "go-to" meals for when we have people over, and I assure you, NONE of them are fancy!
Beach Vacation. This really doesn't need much of an explanation. A week at the beach with my family was awesome. The last full day there, the waves were crazy big, and the whole day felt perfect. We enjoyed coffee on the gorgeous deck, were complete idiots and swam in the ocean with it's raging waves, and celebrated the dads. That last day was superb perfection.
I'm not pregnant! We are moving forward with our plan to foster/adopt to grow our family. I admit. I was weak right around the time Isaac turned 1. But once that mourning passed, I've held SUPER strong on this issue. It's weird not knowing that there will for sure be a baby in this house soon. Isaac still gets treated like a baby, even though he's just a few weeks away from being the same age Nolan was when Isaac arrived. C R A Z Y!
Counseling. I can't adequately explain the massive positive this was in 2016 for me and our whole family. I was in a tough spot spiritually going into counseling. Not because I was uninterested in my relationship with Christ, but because I felt so incredibly stuck. This was affecting my mom life in a major way. And I still have a long ways to go because- sanctification doesn't just happen after 3.5 months of counseling. But what a difference in my entire being to start focusing on who God is, studying His character, and repenting for all the sin that became just normal stuff. The books I've read, the Scripture I've memorized, it's been life changing. And I'll probably need reminders for the rest of my life to look UP.
WACO. Oh man, oh man! Roadtripping with Adam in October was so much fun!!! Which is good because we literally have not been on a date since that trip. We took that trip to celebrate (a little early) 5 years of marriage. It was amazing to take 5 days to just be Adam and Marissa. AMAZING. When I think back on our time together, I still smile because we so enjoyed being together doing even basic things like working out.
Looking back on the year, there's a lot for me to be thankful for. My family of four has been loved so well by our family and friends. I'm going to be honest, I'm a little nervous headed into 2017 with some recent developments, but I'm choosing to focus on God's faithfulness this year, praise Him for it, and trust that He's still going to be faithful next year, too.
