what a year

i know everyone says it this time of year, but i  can't believe how fast 2011 flew by. i'm also amazed at how much life has changed in 12 months. this time last year i was baking cookies for my friends wedding, hanging out with some of my very favorite people, and just waiting for baby #2 to arrive.  (for the record, the cookies were ok, the wedding was beautiful, and i credit the awesome dancing at the reception for gideon's early arrival. fun times indeed. happy anniversary bailey dawn)

fast forward 12 months and we're living on the east coast,planning gideon's first birthday, and waiting for baby #3. i can honestly say that i NEVER would have guessed that this is how life would look at the close of 2011, but i can also say that it's been a great year. a little bit of a crazy year with way too many ups and downs to list out, but a year where i've definitely seen God work and move. i've had friends and family welcome new life into this world, and i've had way too many friends and family members have to say good bye to loved ones.  through it all God has been and continues to be faithful. he didn't promise us an easy road, but he promised to walk it with us.

there's a REALLY old geoff moore song that i like. well, let's be honest there's a lot of old geoff moore songs that i like, but this particular song has a line that goes like this:
"He's gone before us, through every trial we face. we have a Savior, who's lived and died in our place."

not to get all crazy deep  in an otherwise sort of shallow blog, but here me out...
one of the awesome things about Christ is that He didn't just DIE for us. He LIVED life as a human. we have a God who knows what it's like to welcome a baby into the world and  loose a friend to the grave. He experienced human emotion. He KNOWS what we're going through.

there are a lot of verses that tend to float through my mind these days, but Hebrews 4:15 is one of the top.
"This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. "