Wow. Another year has come and gone. It is so very hard to believe all of the changes and things that have taken place in this crazy eventful year. This year brought so much heartache, so much joy, so many tears, so much laughter, so many memories...It's amazing how God can just balance your heart by simply putting His hand on it.
I wanted to recap my year and remember all that God has done through us and for us this year. Even though there were extremely hard days, I can still say that IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL.
January:
We began 2015 in New York City, we woke up New Years Day with a fresh start enjoyed lunch and breakfast at the cafe' from Seinfeld and just celebrated being away. We finished up our trip and headed back to work that following Monday after a crazy trip home (you can read all about that trip in my New York for New Years blog, I highly recommend NYC for NYE, it's a once in a lifetime thing)
Also in January, my mentor teacher was named Teacher of the Year! I was so excited for her because she soooooooooo deserved it! She taught me so much and still is teaching me. I love working with her and learning from her. On the hard days, I know that she sees my hurts and my struggles and has a true desire to help me pull through.
February :
February was a fun month full of love and craziness. We did Valentines Day with Wyatt and Brandi (It's our tradition) and we love it!
February is also the typical month for the Augusta 10k and half Marathon. We have ran in this for 3 years now. This race supports Cystic Fibrosis Research, (which my husband, Seth, has....you can read about that in one of my other blogs) This year we had some more teammates that are extra close and special to my heart. It meant so much that they came out and ran the race with us! It was tough and raining, but they did it! Two of my brothers (Bubba and Dylan), my mentor teacher and her husband, (Mr. and Mrs. Spieker), and one of her friends ran in the race with us! It was amazing to see that kind of turn out in support of research for a disease that is so dear and close to our hearts. I am so grateful! My heart was so blessed that day and the days that followed. March:
March was a hard month emotionally for me. Many of my friends were pregnant and were finding out. I wanted so badly to be a part of their group, but at the same time I wanted to be a good friend. I wanted to see them though this exciting time in their lives. I know on some days I failed at that, I know some days I became selfish and let my desires cloud my true joy for them. However, at the end of the day, I think they know how incredibly excited I was and still am to have those little bundles of sweet joy to love on and to find hope and assurance that one day is coming for me. :)
On those days that were hard, I was able to cling to my Savior who never let go of me, even when I let my jealousy get the best of me. He was there saying to me, "Wait on the Lord, BE STRONG, and take heart.." Psalm 27:14....I was also able to lean on my husband and still do each and every day. His unwavering faith is an inspiring gift to me that I am able to trust in my marriage, and the plans that God has for it. March was a bittersweet month in my book.
Also in March, my sweet, crazy, amazing, awesome Daddy surprised us with KENNY CHESNEY TICKETS! For those of you who do not know me, I am obsessed with him and love his music. I love just being in the atmosphere of the chill music and fun dance party mode :) It was a great night with my mama, daddy, and hubs!
April:
April was such a FUN and BUSY MONTH! We started right off the bat with the infamous Wednesday Night Easter Egg Hunt! We had a wonderful time of fellowship at church and enjoyed celebrating the Savior! The kids at church loved it and I got to see some of precious sweet ones that I so love, some of best friends' babies :)
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| Presley, Wyatt, and Harper Jean :)
Easter we do a cross walk that is called the Via Dolorosa Cross Walk. We (the youth group at our church) carry the cross from Augusta to our church in North Augusta, over the course of 3 days. Our kids are always eager to get out and do this each day! It is a fun time of ministry and fellowship, while it is extremely hard and tiring, it IS ALWAYS WORTH IT. Those kids learn so much in 3 days and truly value the meaning of Easter. I always appreciate doing it with them. This year we decided to throw some fun into the mix, with a glow in the dark egg hunt and game night. :)
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April is also the month of my Spring Break and Master's Week in Augusta! It was such a blast! I kicked it off by going to Charleston with a sweet friend of mine to see an AMAZING FRIEND of mine whom I deeply love. She is such an encouraging spirit. We spent the day with her and her 2 precious kiddos and husband. We just enjoyed being off and being free to enjoy the day!
The very next day my brother and I got badges to go to the Augusta National for the Masters. It was a great day that I was able to spend with my brother at one of our favorite places. We love the National and all the heritage and history that it brings. It was a wonderful day that I so enjoyed.
In April, we were also concerned about Seth's medicine, but God prevailed and worked it all out. This is a short synopsis of it all that I shared on Facebook back in April:
"God is so good to us. Just a week ago, I was sharing with a dear friend that I needed her to be in prayer for Seth's medicine. We were not able to qualify for the foundation that helped him the past couple of year's pay for his medicine. I began to get worried, Seth however, kept saying, "It will all work out." I am thankful for and admire his unwavering faith. I on the other hand was panicking greatly. I know he needed his enzymes and without them he would not get the nutrients that he needs to remain healthy. I began to pray, along with my Seth, and my sweet friend. I am so happy to share with you all that the medicine situation is worked out. We still have to pay, but it's so much better than we thought. His enzymes and breathing treatment medicine is a huge amount of money, but God made a way for us. I am so thankful that He works all things together for our good. Take that Cystic Fibrosis! :) God can beat it and so can prayer!"
Thankful that God is ever prevailing and is always working for OUR GOOD! I LOVE REMEMBERING THE WORKS OF THE LORD AND ALL THAT HE HAS DONE FOR US!
This month I took my niece Caroline Grace to the Crazy Hair Secret Keeper Girl Tour! It was such a beautiful night with some precious girls at Secret Keeper Girl. It broke my heart to see girls of all ages putting their hands over the things they don't like about themselves. It's so sad that at such a young age, girls already start hating parts of their body and the way they look. I am so thankful for events like this, that help remind these sweet girls that they are beautiful and God made them beautiful. Those girls were taught how to surrender that to Jesus. They were taught it's okay to not be normal, because Jesus wasn't. They were taught that they are LOVED deeply by the King. There was not a dry eye in the house for any lady over 16 that night.
In April, our sweet friend also dedicated her baby to the Lord! What a beautiful Day that was! Wyatt Emerson White!
The final days of April were so heart warming, so many of our friends and family showed up IN THE RAIN to walk the Great Strides Walk to support Cystic Fibrosis Research! It was such a sweet day that we felt encouraged and loved by so many! We are eternally grateful for those precious people.
May:
May was another fun and busy month. It's my birthday month and we had 4 of our youth graduate from high school for our Graduation Sunday. This month also contains Mother's Day. For some reason, this Mother's Day I felt very lonely, even though I was at the beach with family. I felt alone in my place as not being a mother. I remember waking up super early, sitting on the balcony, looking at the ocean, and just relaxing in the love of God as my heart hurt. It was a bitter sweet day, because I love celebrating the wonderful mama that I have, but I also was deeply saddened at my position. However, God is good and we pushed through and made it though the day!
My sweet sweet sweet husband surprised me with a birthday trip of a lifetime. He rented a house in Edisto and had all of my friends come down and surprise me! At first, I have to admit I began to freak out about all the different personalities that were coming, but the trip could not have been more perfect! I loved every minute of it and am so thankful for the memories that were made on that trip! :)
We also watched 4 of our talented, awesome, crazy, exciting, loving members of our youth graduate high school. This was such a sad, but precious day at church. We were able to bless them and share memories and things we have seen happen in their life in front of the church. We celebrated their accomplishments and victories. It was an all around great day, it was very sad watching as they walked across the stage knowing that they were done with their time in our youth group, but it was exciting to see that God allowed us to play a part in their precious lives.
We also began a new series right after this on Wednesday Nights titled, Summer Lovin' True Love Waits Project. This series is designed to teach the youth about what the bible says about Love, Sex, Marriage, and PURITY. We did this all summer long, and it was great success! :)
June:
June was the end of my first year teaching! It was so nice to get out and celebrate the summer! We kicked it off with a baby shower for my sweetest friend in the world, Jamie! It was only the 2nd shower that I have thrown at my house. So, I was super nervous, but it turned out wonderful as we celebrated sweet Jamie and baby Co.
Right after that, packed up and went on a MISSIONS TRIP TO THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. It was a life changing trip that I wrote all about in a blog titled, "Life Changing Trip to the Dominican"! Please go read! It was an amazing trip, in which God humbled me, taught me, and revealed himself to me in so many new ways! I adored the whole time! It was truly the best part of this year.
The rest of June I was on a serious high from the work God did in me in the Dominican Republic. It was a great trip. I babysat my sweet cousin Presley for a a couple of days and relaxed, played out by the pool, and got lunch with friends, but NOTHING COULD TOP THAT MISSIONS TRIP.
July:
July was filled with birthdays (my mom's and my brother Dylan's), Vacation Bible School, July 4th, working on the True Love Waits Project with our youth and so much more........
Vacation Bible School this year was amazing. We did a superhero theme, which all of our kids loved. We had a great turn out and and great time of fellowship with all of our volunteers. VBS is always one of my favorite weeks of the summer!
We finished out July at the annual Pest Control Convention with my family. It was a great time, but we did have to come home early due to some unexpected illnesses with Pastor John. Little did we know, it would lead to a week of him being in the hospital and 4 weeks of him recovering at home.
August:
August got off to a terrible start, we rushed home from the beach to get to church the next morning. It was a very time in our church and our own personal lives, because we were so uncertain of what was to come with Pastor John. There was no official diagnosis and everything seemed so terrible. God always comes through and teaches and reminds, but as we were walking through this terrible time it was very hard to see.
August also had some exciting things happen though as Pastor John began to heal. We had 2 graduation ceremonies for True Love Project. It was so awesome to see these parents and grandparents come together and agree with their children, as they strive for a life of purity. I pray they always remember this past summer as one that they had a heart change.
We also celebrated Seth's birthday by going to a Braves Game and by visiting some places in his hometown that he wanted to go back and see. It was a wonderful weekend to celebrate his birthday and 20 months of MARRIAGE!
I also started my 2nd year of teaching 4th and 5th grade ELA and Social Studies! Can you say, busy month!?! and MY BEST FRIEND JAMIE HAD HER BABY!
September:
September is always busy because it is filled with so many birthdays and exciting things! We had a great back to school lock in with the Youth! They were so excited to play so many games and eat tons of pizza! We had a great midnight service and got no sleep at all! IT was a great kick start to a new month!
Another fun event, was my nephew's birthday! It was a bittersweet day, because this was the first party that my brother did separate from his ex-wife. It is hard for me to even write that, because that was an underlying issue all year long. A lot of my sadness and tears came from lack of a baby, but it also came from losing a sister in law. This was one of those days that it was so real to me. It hurt deeply on so many levels. My brother's new girl friend did a wonderful job with his party! it was great and Jackson loved it! Some pieces of my heart were still broken from a friendship that had begun 10 years ago and now was beginning to slowly end. Jackson didn't see this though, All he saw was a huge smile and HAPPY BIRTHDAY. It was the time of his life, and for that I am grateful!
In September, we also got a break away and was able to go to one of my favorite events all year long. It was the ILEAD Conference. It is a conference designed for Youth Leaders to come and collaborate with other leaders from around the state. Seth and I had a wonderful time fellowshipping and enjoying our friends' company from around South Carolina. It was so much needed after all the events at church that had taken place in August without Pastor John that we had to run. It was an encouraging trip that was very much appreciated and enjoyed! We also dressed up like nerds the Nerd Party :)
October:
October was another busy, busy, busy, busy month! It always starts right off the bat with Caroline Grace's birthday! We celebrated at my parent's house with a Taylor Swift Cake! She so enjoyed it and then she found out that later that month, we would be going to see her perform! (I WAS POSSIBLY MORE EXCITED THAN SHE WAS)
In October, I also hosted a Girl's Night for the youth girls at church at my house. It was fun night of learning about how God cleans out the mess in us (we used the pumpkins, as a visual) It was the most girls I have ever had in my house at one time and it was a blast. I enjoyed that night so much listening to them laugh and paint and just enjoy each other's company.
The next weekend I had 2 baby showers to attend and 1 Gender Reveal in one day! IT WAS SUCH A FUN WEEKEND. I also got to help host one for my Forever Friend!
While it was physically exhausting, it was not as emotionally exhausting as I expected it to be. God really prepared my heart for the emotions that I would feel and I was not upset or jealous at all. I truly was able to enjoy in the happiness of my sweet, precious, Godly, kind friends! I was so in awe of how God worked in my heart that weekend.
The next weekend was my favorite weekend of October, Caroline Grace and I got to go to the Taylor Swift Concert! IT was so much fun! BEST CONCERT EVER, and I can say that because I have seen a lot of concert. ahaha including Hannah Montana ;)
That next Wednesday we had our annual Trunk or Treat on the Wednesday before Halloween! Seth and I dressed up as Dick Van Dyke and Mary Poppins! It was a great time of fellowship at our church. We had kids from all over show up and be blessed! We also had so many trunks that we were so thankful for! It was also emotional too, because I also found out this month that our Children's Pastors would be leaving us and moving to California! Can you say, Yikes, and just plain sadness?
On Halloween Day, Seth and I decided to check off a Bucket List Item of his and go to all the different types of Chickfilas. We went to the regular kind, the Dwarf House, The Pizza Kind, and the Hawaiian kind all in one day. We explored Georgia and the outskirts of Atlanta. It was fun day of celebrating our marriage and just spending one on one time with one another.
November:
November was a hard month. We said goodbye to two our favorite friends. We planned them a fun Bon Voyage Party, but it hurt so bad to say goodbye. We did ministry with them for 5 years. There are no words to truly explain the kind of hurt that we experienced. It was a fun party, but kind of heart breaking at the same time.
November started to get happy when my Forever Friend, Becca, had her baby. That was an exciting week! He was and still is so adorable!
We also had all of the youth over at our house our annual Thanksgiving at the DuVall's House! It was a good time of fellowship, food, and fun!
It did get sad again, when we found out that Pastor John now had Prostate Cancer and would have to undergo radiation treatments. While his doctor was positive and encouraged by what condition he was in, it was still very hard on him and our hearts. We love him so dearly, so anytime we see him hurt, it hurts us. I don't fully know how to describe how intensely my heart has been saddened this last half the year as we have watched the sickness kind of play out.
We were able to take a wonderful getaway to see my friend in New York City for Thanksgiving! We checked off a huge bucket list moment, by going to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade! It was so much fun! We were able to go to the parade, see the Rockettes, see Aladdin on Broadway, and so much more! It was a once in a life time trip!
And finally December:
December was just like all of the others. BUSY. It started off incredibly sad, as Seth and I planned one of our former youth's baby's memorial service. Seth performed the funeral, and it was truly heart breaking. I have never experienced nothing like it, and I pray that no one I know will ever have to go through that again. It was a terrible start to the month, but I would have it no other way than to be right there with our sweet Shelby through this terrible time.
December always includes traditions that are so fun! We had our annual Cousin ornament exchange in which I got my favorite ornament ever, OF COURSE DISNEY!
I ALSO GRADUATED WITH MASTERS ON DECEMBER 12TH! WAHOOOOOOO!
The very next day we had our Christmas Play that went well for the most part! It had been a crazy year trying to practice, but we pushed through and I believe that some lives were touched by the precious moments in the play!
That same night we had the ladies ornament exchange at church, and then went on to celebrate more Christmas festivities! I had my Classroom Christmas Party at school with my precious kiddos and then went out of town with my family to watch some Christmas shows and spend time with brother and sister in law in Myrtle Beach! It was very fun and nice to get away during such a crazy month!
We also had in Kid's Ministry (since Kyle and Rachel left, we took over Kid's Ministry along with some youth helpers) A BIRTHDAY PARTY FOR JESUS! It was a blast and the kids loved singing and celebrating His Birth!
On the first week of break, I had Jamie and her kiddos over to do some Christmas crafts and I also had our annual Cousin's Cookie Day at my house! It was so much being with all of my sweet cousins to celebrate Christmas!
That same night we went to my friend's house and had Friendsmas with some sweet people! We did a Chinese Christmas and just talked and hung out with one another! It was great to see old friends and get closer with new ones!
The next night we took the youth to give out blankets at the local Nursing Home! IT was such a good time to see them light up as they were doing something good for the Lord. Afterwards, we took them back to our house and had Sweets and Treats! I loved watching their faces as they began to truly understand the meaning of Christmas and what it was supposed to look like.
The next day was Christmas Eve, I spent it shopping with my mom. We met my sweet hubs and brother for Dinner and then celebrated at my cousin Beth's house! The next morning we had Christmas with my parents and then Seth's grandparents and family.
It was a wonderful day, full of all the things that I love most. I loved celebrating our King and His forever reign!
3 days later, we celebrated our 2 year anniversary and have been enjoying our break ever since. We hope that you and your family have a wonderful New Year. This year has been one of heart break, loss, love, joy, and laughter. We look forward to the good things that 2016 will bring, but also know that when the bad things come we have a Savior that is working all things together for our good. May you be blessed as we exit 2015 and enter 2016. Praying for you and yours.
xoxoxoxo
Living to Make Jesus Famous,
Seth and Amy DuVall
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