I had to think about how old I will be when we are done with the 2020s. Yikes. I'll be in my late 40s!
He went on talking about how we need to be intentional about our time. Prioritising our important goals before mindless scrolling of social media (for myself). As I'm typing this, it's the 30th of December and I saw a couple of my friends' book list for 2019. I'm ashamed to say that I have yet to finish reading one book! One of them, a mom of 5 read 50 books this year. That's 4 books a month! 1 book a week. My first thought was, "How on earth does she carve out the time?"
But it really all boils down to priorities, doesn't it? If I'm honest with myself, if I was intentional with my reading, I would bring my book to the playground when the kids play and read on the bench. Or to the Family Centre downstairs where the kids play quite independently anyway.
I thought what better way to commemorate the past 10 years than to have a little recap! I inserted some links to my blog entries, so feel free to have a read!
2010 - God answered our prayers and we got pregnant with our first babe!
After struggling to get pregnant for 1.5 years, we finally got pregnant at Christmas! I won't mince words. I was teaching for 3.5 years and somewhere somehow, I lost so much motivation because I didn't like the work environment. I kept toying with the idea of changing jobs but somehow didn't have the peace about it since we were also trying to conceive and I really want to have some maternity benefits. That meant though, that I was quite miserable for the 1.5 years that took us to get pregnant.
But guess what? God really rewards perserverance! That's because I could continue to claim maternity benefits with my school for up to 3 children! I didn't have to pay insurance (since I was insured by the state) and when the school shut down, they paid me more than 8 years of compensation even though I technically only taught for 3.5 years! It's truly God's providence! - Even if I only saw it at the end.
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| Little Sam was already growing in my belly in this pix! |
2011 - I became a first-time Mom to Sam!
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| Our first family photo as parents! |
Oh boy, were we clueless! Like massively clueless! I had nooo idea that a newborn wakes up every 2-3 hours to be fed. Can you believe it? I kept praying for baby to sleep longer and was shocked at how frequently baby woke up and needed a diaper change / feed!
Motherhood hit me like a rock. It was / is the most challenging, rewarding, crazy and mad adventure I've ever been on. The first year after Sam's birth, I just knew I had to cling onto God every single day for strength and grace and more grace.
2012 - I got pregnant again!
We were told to wait for 1 year after Sam was born by caesarean. So being the obedient people we were, we waited!
And once he turned one, we tried to get pregnant again and were gobsmacked when it worked out immediately! Funnily enough, we found out we were pregnant with Gabriel while we were on holiday in Teneriffe, Spain and while drinking (a lot) of wine. Sam and Gabriel have a 22-month old age gap and boy oh boy, 2013 was interesting!
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| Our photo shooting in Teneriffe when Sam was 1 and I was 4 weeks preggy with Gabriel |
I turned 30!
I ushered in the 30s with a fabulous P-party! P for "Priscilla" you see. Every guest had to come dressed in a character that started with "p". It was the first time I had a costume party and I totally loved it! Everybody was so sporting and came dressed to the nines! It made me realise that after 6 years in Germany, I do have friends!
2013 - Gabriel, our second boy was born!
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| Our first photo of the 2 boys together! |
Gabriel's birth was a story of healing. I had a traumatic birth with Samuel that resulted in an unplanned C-section, so I was sooo scared to give birth again to my #2. My heart prayer was that I wouldn't have to be cut up again and can have a natural birth. Gabriel's birth was such a healing experience for me!!! Thank you God! I don't know if I would have a 3rd, let alone 4th baby if I had more than one caesarean.
2014 - The Lord blessed us with a place of our own!
We are so thankful we got a place of our own after renting for about 8 years. We moved into our new place with 2 children and are going to leave our current place with 4 children!
2015 - I got pregnant with Liam!
Our birth announcement that confused so many people! Somehow for each pregnancy, the Lord gave us a special verse for each baby. This was the verse we had for Liam. It was so apt because we had a pregnancy scare with him. It resulted in us changing my gynaecologist because I wasn't happy with her bedside manners. She was discussing "exploring our options" (ie. abortion) even before we knew whether Liam was healthy or not. I held on to the verse we got for him and prayed God's protection over him. It all turned out to be a scare and Liam was born a healthy baby boy in March 2016!
"I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence." Ps 16:8
2016 - Liam was born!
I thought I had a good birth with Gabriel. Liam's one turned out even better with me not needing epidural. I experienced the full-blow of a vaginal birth and it was one of the most empowering experiences I've ever had. I had / have so much respect for the body God has given to me and I'm so in awe that God used me to birth 3 boys!
2017 - The year I worked from home!
I started my own work-from-home business selling beauty products to slim, firm and tone the belly and to lose weight / get healthier. It was a wonderful experience when I learnt a lot about social media marketing and how to use Instagram to earn money! I loved all the products I used / sold and realise there's huge market potential to explore! When I got pregnant with Isabelle, I realised I needed to take a break because it was too hard having a pregnancy and taking care of 3 toddlers. It was a great experience nevertheless and I learnt so much!
2018 - I got pregnant and gave birth to our first girl, Isabelle!
After 3 boys, I must say that I had ZERO hope to be a girl-Mom. I always desired to have a baby girl and I had a very girly childhood growing up with an older sister, but I really didn't know if I could have a baby girl.
Gabriel was the one who prayed for a baby sister specifically. Don't ask me how he had the faith to do so. He just did. And before we knew it, Isabelle was conceived on 1.1.18 and born on 25.9.18! It was such an answered prayer!
I had a smooth birth with Isabelle but I must have injured my tail bone during the birth that resulted in months of physio, chiropractic, osteopathic treatments. I'm still trusting and praying for 100% recovery.
Isabelle is such a dream come true though. Her 3 brothers adore her so and she fits in so well playing with the boys and yet adding her own feminine touch with her constant need to hold anything with a handle and pretending that it's a handbag.
2019 - We are building a house of our own! (no photos yet)
Oh yeah, that's our next big project! We've been living in our current apartment for 5 years and felt the need to have a bigger place. God opened the door for us to buy our second home 10-mins from our current place. It's still a huge work-in-progress but we are trusting God step by step to see this project to completion!
And that's our last 10 years!!! Phew! I did it! It's such an eye-opener (even for myself) to see how the Lord has guided our steps for the past decade! I think that's why we, as Christians should read the Bible regularly so that we are encouraged by the progress and experiences of other Christians who have gone ahead before us. But we all serve the same God who is able and willing to help us through every single challenge in our life and to guide us like a personal shepherd.
The Bible verse for 2020 is "I believe, please help my unbelief" Mark 9:24
We pray that as we enter into a new year and a new decade, may we fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who has gone before us, to pave the way for us. He is our Shepherd, our deliverer, our Master and friend and our Eternal Hope.
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