Blessings Jar - 2012

Well, this was our second year of randomly recording blessings throughout the year and storing them in our blessings jar.  On New Years Eve this year, we were all sick, so we decided to stay home as we were trying to recover.  We had told the kids we would celebrate the new year with them and we played three rip roaring games of SORRY and then we both were so tired that we decided to cheat.  We never lied, but we did ring in the new year at 10:00 at our house, so we could all go to bed.  We even cheered in the new year, had a countdown on the microwave and then drank our special drink out of our special glasses as we hollered Happy New Year!  hahaha.  Then we called Grandma and Pappy Bumbaugh and told them happy new year, before heading off too bed. :)  Guess we can't probably pull that off next year, but it worked this year, until the next week when Ava realized from school that we didn't get to watch the New York Ball drop. ;)  woops.  Sorry honey!

So in our blessings jar for 2012, we found ourselves to be very blessed.  We didn't even place all the blessings in our jar and truly we were more blessed than we could ever record but we did record some for memory sake.  I felt personally that this was a tough year and it did me good to read through some of our blessings that had actually taken place.  Okay, but I am not recording all of what we did for some personal reasons. :)  Here are a few that were in our jar.


January - Daddy bought mommy roses just to say he loved her.
January - Ava feels blessed that her dog, Simba, gets to stay with Grandma and Pappy after all.  They were giving him to a friend and it didn't work out so they took him back. :)
January 13 - Court date was postponed so Baby J got to stay with us one more unexpected month.
February - Ava finally said a positive thing about the school bus and that she actually likes school and the bus.  She said home was boring to her now.  First time since September of last year.
March 20 - we received the call that stopped us in our tracks.  It was Baby J's dad, Jeremy and he called to see if we wanted to see our little guy sometime soon.
March - We found out about a huge tax return, much more than we were anticipating.
March 27 - Christian's Kindergarten Registration - so much excitement for him and he passed his test with flying colors.
March 27 - We finally get to see baby J after three long horrific weeks of missing him.  He remembered us and we even got to keep him over night.  His dad was extremely gracious.
March 28 - Good News for my dad. . . he was accepted into a program he had applied for, and changed his life.
May 18 - "Mommy was in hospital for her heart - I was excited she didn't have a heart attack" - Ava
May19 - Jason bought Micah a golf club he had wanted to add to his set, and we had a great opportunity to go four wheeling at the Justus homestead. . .the kids had so much fun.
July - Margaret and Harry called to tell us they were getting a pool!!!
August - Beach Trip with Jason, Kim, and Westin.  Then Scott and Lori came down to surprise us and hang out at the beach with us.
August 12 - Nate proposed to Danielle and Ava and Christian got to be a BIG part of that special moment (random blessing spoken from Christian - "Danielle Loves Christian")
August - We found out at their class orientations that Christian and Ava got classes right across from each other at school this year. :)
August 29 - Ava lost another tooth and caught it right before it went down the drain.  She was so excited about this little but significant detail.
August 30 - Christian's first day of school week of school went great!
September - We were blessed with FREE tomatoes, peaches, potatoes, and cucumbers from the Glessners and dad helped me can them, along with Harry and Margaret.  Free food and lots of help.
September - Christian finally lost his first tooth!!!! 
September - Christian also got his four wheeler a month early, for his birthday.
September 16 - We had the privilege of getting to keep baby J for four days straight!  Best bonding ever.
September 16 - Ava was baptized at church and it was an amazing day
September 22 - Matthew and Jean were married and we were able to go and be a part of the big day.  Margaret and Harry called and offered to keep our kiddos so Micah could go along with me.
October - We received a monetary gift of $1500 dollars and it couldn't have come at a better time in our lives.  Friends allowing God to use them in a mighty way.
October 19 - We had a very cool birthday surprise!  Ivvie M. came to stay with us for four days. . . little Happy Feet.
October - Dad paid for all our gas to Hilton Head SC and Back
October 27 - We got to be a huge part of Andy and One-L's Big day, their wedding.  We were the Matron of Honor, Flower Girl, and Ring Bearer and it was a fun wedding to be a part of
October 29 - We made it through hurricane Sandy without any damage to us or our house or property
November 5 - Dr. Quesenberry didn't charge us anything for our doctor visit to him, saving us close to $80 bucks, and then we also had our vehicle in to the garage and found out the repairs were only $200 and God fixed the back window on His own time. :)
November 7 - Kim Brought us meals to fill our freezer from her and a bunch of friends including Becky Sullivan, Erin Deihl and Linda Pedersen too.  They were wanting to help out with Micah not having work.  Such a major blessing.
November - Margaret and Harry took us shopping and paid for our groceries for that trip, again filling our cupboards and freezers.
November - Jim, our neighbor, told us we could use the hot tub whenever we wanted to.
November 27 - Johnny S. came to stay with us for a few months
November 30 - Jim, our neighbor, came over to tell us he had set an appointment and had taken it upon himself to order us a set of brand new tires for our Sequoia.  Merry Christmas he said!!!
December 24 - Christmas Eve in a hot tub with our family and Pappy and Jim, in a snow covered winter land.
December - Kevin and Amy spoiled our kiddos and blessed our families with an abundance of presents.  It was so amazingly sweet and memorable for the kiddos.
A few last random ones with no dates but they were there - groceries given to us, money dropped off for us, bills worked out without our knowing how, and so on and so forth.  A few of Christian and Ava's random ones to end

Chritian - blessed - "mom was excited bceas(because) Ava slesa(listened) and I Lesa(listened) with my lesaing(listening) ers(ears)."
Ava- blessed - "thankful for my little brother for now, Johnny S."
Christian - blessed "Danielle Loves Christian" and "my mom loves me" and "that Jesus died on the cross for my sins."
Ava - blessed - "I was excited I saw Westin"


Malachi 3:10
Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.

There are many more that were in our jar and many that never even made it to our jar. The Bible talks about blessings that will be more than we have room to store. I think that God has done as he has promised. We did test him this year in our hearts and in our ways and He truly flew open the floodgates and poured out his blessings upon us and our home. It didn't mean that it was easy, or that He even took away all the pain of life, but He sure did richly bless us. Micah was without a job for the majority of the year and yet, financially God took care of us.  Life this year was hard for many reasons, and yet, emotionally God carried us through.   It is amazing and humbling and truly Only GOD.  If we have trouble trusting God after this past year, then shame on us and we will never learn.  God is the one and only thing we need in this life.  He takes care of our every need.    Thank you Lord for all you do and thank you for being true and constant and always there for us.  We love you and owe it all to YOU!!!!