Saturday, December 31, 2016

2016: Looking Back

The Harris family has come through another year by the grace of God. 

The older I get, the more I realize how much grace is given. Just like you, dear reader, lots of good graces have been given (which we take pictures of), and lots of hard graces have been given (which we typically don't take pictures of). It's not that we are trying to paint a rosy picture of our reality. It's just that, in the middle of a hard grace, life is challenging at that moment, and a picture is the last thing on your mind. At those moments, you're thinking/praying:

"Show me how to think, Lord,"
"Show me how to love, Lord."
"Help me not smack this kid upside the head, Lord."
"Help me not hold a grudge, Lord."
"Help me survive this, Lord."
"I'm so mad right now...help."
"I'm so hurt right now...help."
"Help."

So you can see why, with all that going on, I don't take pictures.

But in the moments of easy graces, you want to capture and share, because joy shared is joy multiplied. 

And it's those moments we share here. God has given us lots of good moments that we smile at and hopefully have grown in. Grown in love for Him and for each other. 

We are blessed.

So here's some highlights from our 2016!


The first 3 months of 2016 = all things Faith, from track meets to...

wedding prep!!! She married her high school sweetheart, Isaak Pearson, March 13!
To gear up for all things wedding, Lou and I dashed away to FL with friends:)
(and a continuing ed medical meeting)


Then---> WEDDING! One of the happiest days of my life. 
The Harris girls 
David, Faith, Luke





A little inclement weather didn't dampen our spirits!


Luke, Mary Grace, Alex, Hannah, Isaak, Faith, Shelley, Lou, Elizabeth, David


In April, we headed to OKC to watch Hannah cross the finish line...that girl ran a marathon!
Alex and Hannah

In May, this crew 



                            watched this guy graduate.
Woopig David
Also in May, Lou and I toured the Big Apple with these two! Super fun.




In June, we Tulsa Toughed it with good friends, Wes and Marla.




And we welcomed David and his college friend, Micah, home from their month abroad.

David, Micah

Summer also brought kamp, tennis, bike rides, and a move from Tulsa to KC for our Hannah and Alex.




Mary Grace

Lou, go-proing it.


In the fall, we began a new thing, as I became a Teaching Leader with Bible Study Fellowship. To say God is stretching me is an understatement, but He is enabling and I'm holding on for dear life. 



Also in the fall, we began the first of many "lasts." Our baby, Mary Grace, is a senior. 

So there's senior pictures:


 TENNIS:
Mary Grace with doubles partner, MacKenzie
 The honor of being Miss Bolivar for the Walnut Festival:

Super fun day!
Mary Grace was first runner up!

Then, she played the Bird Woman in Mary Poppins

And then, she ran a half marathon. She's kept us hopping this fall!



We finished 2016 with everybody getting to be here on Christmas day.

#blessed
We, like you, are looking forward to 2017. We don't know what it holds, but we hold on to and trust God for the grace we need just when we need it.

A friend shared this prayer on fb a couple of days ago. I liked it, and thought it meaningful as we begin a new year.

"Forth in thy name, O Lord, I go, my daily labour to pursue;
Thee, only thee, resolved to know, in all I think or speak or do.
The task thy wisdom hath assigned, O let me cheerfully fulfill;
In all my works thy presence find, and prove thy good and perfect will."
-- Charles Wesley



Many blessings to you all.