Holiday Year in Review: 2012

Rumor has it… 2012 is coming to an end. (And by rumor, I really mean my iCalendar told me so.)

This has been quite a year~ In one word? Educational. Well, and encouraging. (Ok, I know that’s two words– but hey, that’s the awesome power of the keyboard. I do what I want. Well, within reason. Ish.)

We here in the Knobloch Family are mixing things up a bit this year. Instead of sending out hard copies of printed letters, in envelopes with pictures with full postage, we are going digital. Don’t worry, we are still sending out picture postcards– but we wanted to save on postage and labor, so are trying something a lil new. (Plus it was a compromise of my desire to update our dear friends and family on our lives via full printed letter/picture and my sweet husbands theory of “Can’t we just send out a text message?”)

So, dear friends and readers… Here are some of the educational and encouraging lessons that we have learned (or have been continually reaffirmed) in 2012.

1. God is faithful… all the time. I know it sounds cliché, but it has been a year of ups, downs and all arounds. We’ve experienced some of our lowest lows (we had a miscarriage in March) and our highest highs (we are now expecting our Little Patriot to arrive February 26th-ish! As if you couldn’t figure that out per the picture above.) Brandon is still a drill sergeant (t-minus six months ’til he hangs up his hat! But who’s counting…) I have really been dedicating my life to this ministry here at 7 Days Time, while also fulfilling my role as volunteer ministry apprentice at Christ Community Church and pursuing my spiritual leadership coaching certification. Oh. And being Family Readiness Group Leader for our army company. And growing a baby. WHEW.

Through all of these experiences, God has proven so incredibly faithful!! We’ve cried and laughed over the last year. With each experience, our marriage has grown stronger, as has our relationship with God. It is almost hard to put into words how grateful we are for God’s continual grace, patience, love and faithfulness. It’s overwhelming.

You didn’t think this was gonna be all gushy, did you? My bad. Please excuse me while I grab a tissue… AHEM.

2. God is dependable… in all circumstances. My word for 2012 was “Dependence.” Whoo-ee, lemme tell ya, folks– has God really put that word front and center in our lives!  He REQUIRED us to depend on Him numerous times throughout this year including more separated-by-call-of-duty-seasons, life challenges/circumstances, moments of victory and also as we faced some big fat question marks pertaining to our future. Through it all– He has never left us, never forsaken us.

We have seen incredible, remarkable, unexplainable growth in our ministry. I started blogging back in August 2011 and have since written 300+ blog posts at the time of this update. (That’s over 175,000 words!! Go Jesus, go!) We felt a stirring early in 2012, so we revamped and launched 7 Days Time back in February. With that, God told us He didn’t just want it to be a blog, but rather faith in action… which started our Factor of 7 movement where each month we do a random act of kindness for a group of people or strangers. Even though we are living on one income and I am working for “Jesus Dollars,” He has continued to provide for us financially in creative ways– which encourages our heart to keep giving it away for His glory. It’s an awesome process to be a part of– and such a blessing for us.  (We encourage you to check out our many Factor of 7 stories– and join in the movement. You won’t regret it. Seriously.)

3. God is loving… eternally. God has shown His love to us in some awesome ways this year both big and small. Our pup Sweet Justus is still a great at-home-cuddly-writing companion for me, and a perfect chase-around-the-living-room-please-don’t-break-the-lamp playing partner for Barn. He’s the best. And still hilarious. We have also been blessed with great people in our lives within our church family that have come alongside us this past year. (My boss/mentor Kelli and her family are a huge blessing in our lives! Plus they are wonderful puppy sitters whenever we travel.)

Our families have also been a huge blessing as they continually showcase God’s love in our lives. They have been so supportive and encouraging as we run after Jesus (and try to continually play nice with the army 😉 ) Lex & Dietrich (Brandon’s awesome parents)  are doing great… In fact, Lex and I are BFF’s… we text back and forth all day, talking about life and lifting each other up as we walk with Christ. My parents CJ and Gail are also doing well– although they are about a thousand miles away, Mom is always there ready for a phone conversation to remind me that everything can be fixed with prayer and a hot bath. (And chocolate. Don’t forget the chocolate.) My younger sister Kathleen and her hubby Chris are trucking along in SE KS a few miles from my parents, still working on the farm and adopting calves, kittens, puppies and other random creatures whenever they can. My “little” brother Dal isn’t so little anymore. He’s ginormous. He’s 14. Driving. A freshman in high school. Awesome– yet it makes me a bit sick to my stomach. Weren’t we just bringing him home from the hospital after he was born like 20 minutes ago?? So yes– we are very blessed. And God’s love has been showered on us in so many ways in 2012!

4. God has a plan… for all of us. So what’s next? Great question. When we know, we will post it on Facebook. The end.

Just kidding.

Seriously, we know God has an awesome plan for us in 2013 (and beyond).  As of right now, we know that includes becoming parents for the first time (yay-yikes!) and potentially moving to a new duty station. (No, we do not know to WHERE yet– He is stretching and growing us– teaching us to wait– which we know is one of the hardest yet most important things we will ever do as Christians!) He has opened the door for me to preach a couple of messages over the last few months, so we are excited to see where that takes us as well.

We don’t really know what He has in store for us next– but we are determined to walk by faith, whatever time zone it takes us to and whatever new experiences life brings. Today, we encourage you to do the same. Please know that this holiday season is not a great excuse to eat sweet treats and buy cool presents… but it signifies the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. He is the continual, constant and never-changing reminder that God is faithful… dependable…loving… and has a plan for each and every one of us.

May the love of Christ fill your heart not only during this holiday season– but each day that you are walking with Him.

Our love, prayers, and blessings,

Sharita, Brandon, Sweet Justus and Little Patriot

PS: Please let us know how we can pray for you by leaving a comment below…or following on Twitter @sharitaknobloch… or liking our Facebook page… Or subscribing to receive these post updates by email… Or emailing me via sharita{dot}knobloch{at}gmail{dot}com. Blessings to all of you, sweet readers, friends and family!!