Hello Friends!
Well I will humbly admit the obvious.....I am a terribly inconsistent blogger :) Life is a busy thing, and we have had a lot of life and a lot of busy lately! Still it's been good, and this new year was toasted in with thankfulness and anticipation for what God is going to do with and for us in 2011!
Some Holiday highlights:
We were blessed to spend Christmas with Michael's family down in the Houston area! It was great to be with family and have the chance to see most all of Michael extended family as well! This was a huge gift in and of itself to have to chance to catch up with everyone! Michael's granddaddy was admitted to the hospital during Thanksgiving time, but had recently been moved into a rehabilitation facility shortly before Christmas! We were able to see him a number of times, and we're thankful for the progress he's making there! God has been very gracious to Granddaddy and we're thankful for his heart that wants to serve the Lord and be a fighter :)
Something else we were thankful for during the Christmastime was a chance to visit with our sweet little nephew, Matthew, who isn't so little anymore. Such a chunky little guy :) He is such a pleasant and happy baby! He loves to laugh and smile and his dimples are the cutest thing! We enjoyed getting a more lengthened bonding time with him for the week we were there!
Of course the best thing about Christmas was celebrating the birth of Christ. I was reminded of the great sacrifice and love on God's part to send His Son to earth and of the young women God chose to be the mother of Jesus. Mary's words humble me, "I am the bondservant of the LORD, let it be done to be according to your word" (Luke 1:38). How few are the moments when I look at the scenes of my life and utter with my heart those words of trust, commitment, and faith.
Something else we had a chance to enjoy while in Houston was a Christmas photo shoot with Michael's dad! Rick is such a gift photographer! We enjoyed braving the cold to get some good "Our First Married Christmas" shots taken :) Here are a few!
After our time with Michael's family, we made our way through some of Texas' smallest "towns" (if a dairy farm and a tumbleweed can be called a town :) and headed north-west toward my hometown, Granbury. We spent the New Year's Holiday with my family :)
We had a blast hang
ing out at home catching up with family and drinking tea (well, I enjoyed the tea, Michael not really a "tea and crumpets" kind of guy :) Michael and my dad enjoyed their time at a local shooting range with target practice and Michael's pistol. Mom and
Sarah and I enjoyed our trip to the square for my needed visit to the PanHandle- the small and charming "gourmet kitchen tool shop" that I used to work in located on Granbury Square. We also visited the fabric shop where I picked out some fabric to make some throw pillows for our home :)We were able to spend some time visiting with my brother and sister and each of their groups of little ones. Kids grow up so quickly - it reminds me of how fleeting life truly is and how much we must cherish the time God graciously gives and choose to use it for His glory!
After the New Year, we headed home, back to Longview. We unpacked and stocked up on groceries, and then headed back to work. Recently we had a mini "ice storm" here in East Texas and so my wonderful, Mr. Swepco of a husband was called into work one Saturday to prepare for the snow/ice storm ahead. Thankfully, the storm didn't hit Longview too hard, but Michael still had to put in about 14 hours of work over the weekend. Here are some pictures of the snow:
This season for me at work has been a busy one with the New Year. Our major Preview Events take place at the beginning of the Year, so it's been a crazy time training new tour guides to give campus tours, scheduling individual visits for future students, and registering the students planning on visiting campus for our Preview events. This past Thursday and Friday were the days of our Engineering Preview. We had about 50 students visiting with their families. All in all we had an additional 130 or so extra people on campus. This was a really neat experience for me (minus the stress of getting the event pulled together) as I had the chance to meet students and parents who are praying about the next step and their college decision. In his preparation for one of his presentations, my boss showed me a part of the presentation he would be offering to the Preview Visitors. One slide caught my eye more than anything else: "Top Three Most Important Choices in Life: 1) Choice of Savior, 2) Choice of Spouse, and 3) Choice of College."
That first one is what really grabbed my attention: "CHOICE of Savior." I thought about who my Savior is and what it means to choose him for my own. What a mighty God I serve! Jesus Christ is the best thing about my whole life. From him, everything else has it's meaning. As I've been getting used to what it's like switching from single college student to married, full-time office employee, I've found myself jostled a bit in the mix as I've been learning how to balance things in life and how to be like Christ in the process.
I so appreciate my husband and his wise council and leadership that he uses to lead me to look at the Word and God and live it out in all things. I appreciate Michael's leading in establishing financial goals for us to meet this year and his initiative in helping us search for a church family. I thank God daily for Michael's godliness and leadership in my life and in our home. After Christ, I have no other delight than to serve and bless my husband, and no greater supporter and encourager than in him!
As I've been getting used to working full time, God has been teaching me how to value what is best and most important. To remember that my work, though valuable, beneficial, and fun, at times, is temporary in comparison with my home and what God calls me to be producing and maintaining there. What things I help my home to flourish in are things that have eternal value. I have the privilege of being a homemaker because I am Michael's wife. Our home is meant to be a place where Jesus is Lord, where love, joy, and peace are the tones and attitudes of the atmosphere and where Michael and I may find rest and security from the waves of life. Our home is where God wants my heart focused, even if I am physically working outside of it for a time. Our home is one of my focused projects for this year. Learning to cultivate a place of rest, where Jesus is the heart of focus, where food and sleep and fun are enjoyable and a blessing. I've enjoyed making those throw pillows and baking cookies for my husband :)
Something else God has been teaching me is how to be a godly employee; how to value my work and how to interact with the people I work with. God has been teaching me what it means to love the people I work with by choosing to be like Christ no matter what. No matter how uncomfortable or unpopular that may seem, I'm learning to put off any thought or worry of myself and instead do my work as though working for God and not for man, knowing that God has placed me in this time and this place not just to complete daily tasks and be paid for it, but more importantly to stretch and challenge me to display the life of Christ in my life while at work.
I've been learning to how to do my job well, while also caring for the people that I work with and alongside. I've been learning how to pray for my co-workers and how to be the presence of the Lord in my office by choosing to live out God's Word by the power of His Spirit. I'm excited to see what new things God teaches me as I allow him to use me as his tool in the daily achievement of tasks as well as a tool in His hand to produce whatever eternal results he wants me to be a part of!
So, this year is categorized by a lot of new in the Skeen household. New year, new job, new time of life; new goals, new challenges, new things to overcome; new ways to obey, new area of growth, and new situations to enjoy! The only thing not new is the Savior that we have chosen. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is the constant in my life, the One who enables me to live selflessly to bless my husband, to work hard alongside Michael to meet the financial goals we've established together, to enjoy the challenges, to cherish the sweet moments at home, to pour out myself to serve others, to use my gifts to edify the body, and to grow into the image of God that has already been created "in righteousness and holiness of the truth" (Eph. 4:24). I am new creation; He is the same, steady, mighty, holy, sovereign God of all things. Nearly everything about our lives this year might be new, and I'm thankful for it, be it easy or difficult.However, the one thing that remains the same as it has ever been is Jesus Christ, who He is, and what He wants with my life: that "I make it my ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him." 2 Corinthians 5:9
Pray for us as we embark on 2011 and all the new, exciting, and challenging experiences and learning that await us!
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope..........." (1 Peter 1:3)
Michael and Katie
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