A Year of Change

This has been a year of change. In his book "Developing the Leader Within You", John Maxwell writes, "Change means traveling in uncharted waters, and this causes our insecurities to rise." Chris and I have definitely seen uncharted waters in the year 2009. Here are a few of the changes:

• Our youngest daughter, Callie, had major reconstructive knee surgery in January
• I not only missed my first basketball game in 28 years, I missed 16 of them
• I finished 5 weeks of radiation in January
• Our second grandson, Rance was born in March
• My wife, Chris, graduated with her masters degree in May
• I turned 50 years old in May and I was thrilled to see it!
• Our superintendent retired and we lost our principal & friend to that position
• Our oldest daughter, Kati, graduated from high school in June (valedictorian!)
• Our youngest son, Derick, moved to Maryland in June
• I finished 3 months of chemotherapy in June
• In July, we were able to hold Rance for the first time
• We lost our dog Gracie, an Akita, after losing her sister Maxine, last year
• Our children, Ryan and Amanda, became church planters as they began a church in MD
• I began my masters' degree and principal certification (BACK TO SCHOOL!)
• In August, Kati moved to Denton to attend North Texas University
• Callie became an only child
• I had my second round of scans and tests, with no signs of new tumor

What a year! It has been a year of tough times, challenges, and extreme blessing. The uncharted waters have been scary but the journey is great!