If I’ve said any one thing repeatedly in 2012, it would be,
“Is this really happening?”
My Aunt Janelle and cousin Alexandra came to visit from
England last December/January. They
stayed at our house for about a week, right before Christmas. This provided the perfect excuse to have a
large Epps family Christmas party at my house.
I’d never hosted a large family gathering – and don’t think all six of
Mom’s siblings had been together since the early 1990’s – so this was very
special. We had a wonderful time, and I
went to bed that night with a smile on my face and a greater understanding of my
mother and her family.
No one would have guessed that it would be the last time
we’d all be together. My mother passed
away unexpectedly three months later. I’ve
never known such shock, and can scarcely recall how we got through the
following week, but I do know that my husband, my aunts and cousins, and our
friends are incredible rock stars. Their
loving kindness and prayers carried us through those gut-wrenching days (and
those that still come when least expected).
I’m pretty sure that it’s impossible to ever really be prepared to lose a loved one, but I am
so grateful for the healing and restoration that Mom and I knew in the final
few years of her life. We were at peace
and knew true joy in our relationship; my only regret is that we didn’t get
more time together.
In May, I graduated from college. It’s only an Associates degree from the
community college, but I honestly never really thought I’d even complete
that! We had a really fun graduation
party with loads of friends who celebrated as if I’d been elected President of
the United States! The plan is for me to
eventually finish my Bachelors in Elementary Education, but the timing is not
right right now.
Our summer was really great.
We spent a lot of time at the pool, amusement parks, riding bikes, and
hanging out with friends. We took a few
short trips to Wichita, Atchison and Omaha, and even talked my brother into
joining us on our church’s annual canoe trip on the Niangua River. Since our boys have never been interested in
taking swim lessons or joining swim team, I offered to pay them $25 each if
they would master the crawl over the summer.
Zach is $25 richer (and a great swimmer!). Each of the boys played soccer in the spring
and fall, and Luke played summer and fall baseball too. Zach returned for another summer of Junior
Golf, and both boys are currently playing another season of Upwards basketball.
School started in August.
I am now in my second year of teaching Writing and Public Speaking at a
homeschool enrichment center about 30 minutes from home. I have about 50 students, grades 2-8. I can’t believe I get paid to do this! Zachary is in 3rd grade and Lucas
is in kindergarten. Both kids have amazing teachers this year – seriously,
I’m convinced that these women have extra hours in their day! Zach and Luke are above grade level in all
subjects, and their teachers think outside of the box and go the extra mile to
challenge and encourage them to reach their potential. Each of our boys LOVES school, and for that
we are so very grateful.
Zachary has been playing piano now for 16 months. He is currently working on a selection of
Christmas songs to play at retirement / nursing homes in the area. Bryan’s granny was admitted to a rehab center
for a month on Christmas Eve a few years ago (following a serious illness), so
we know just how much people in such situations love visits and music…
especially at Christmas, when it’s so hard to be away from home. Zach has a sweet heart and cannot wait to
bring this gift of music (and a plate of cookies) to others!
The boys are awesome – very happy, thoughtful, sensitive,
generous, funny and fun-loving. It is
truly a blessing that God would entrust them to us.
I continued to run in 2012.
I spent the summer training for a sprint distance triathlon with my dear
friend, Tiffany. We put in a lot of
hours of swimming, biking and running for our early Sept. triathlon. As soon as that race was over, I had to step
up my running in preparation for a half marathon, so I enlisted the help of my
friend Marcy to get me through the long weekend runs. The St. Jude Memphis Half Marathon was my
most recent “Is this really happening?” moment.
The race was just last weekend, and I still can’t believe that I can run
more than 13.1 miles non-stop. I also
cannot believe that I traveled there with fifteen
other girls (including Tiffany!), coordinating when and where we were going
successfully for three whole days. That,
in and of itself, is quite a feat!
Did I mention that all of this running has turned me into a
morning person? (Who’d have
thought?) In order to keep my training
from interfering with my family’s schedule, I run while my family is
sleeping. Since this works so well, I
decided to give early morning Bible study a shot. I asked around to see if anyone would be
interested, and now we’ve got a group of 5 girls meeting at 5:30am on Tuesdays
to study God’s word. It’s early, but
it’s incredible to start my day with a Chai Tea Latte, five close friends, and God’s
word.
Bryan is still enjoying his job at the railroad. He’s made a lot of good friends, and
has figured out how to successfully juggle his evening shifts, mid-week
“weekends”, time with the kids and me, and sleep. It is not always easy, but we make it
work. Any drawbacks to his job do not
compare to 9 years of employment instability (or running a paper route for 11
months), so instead of complaining about the little things, we are simply
grateful for the blessing of a job and the stability that it brings. God has been so very good in meeting our
every need.
One of my favorite changes in 2012 … maybe my very favorite … is that Bryan and I are
teaching Sunday school together. We each
lead a discussion table during children’s church (grades 3-5). His table is filled primarily with boys
(including our son), while mine is usually all girls. Sharing God’s word with kids is such a
precious opportunity, and we are both completely committed to pouring into
these kids’ lives every chance we get.
It has been an enormous blessing to me to see this side of Bryan. While he never saw it coming, he’s truly a
natural with the kids and other leaders!
We are supposed to be the ones teaching, but I’m awe-struck by just how
much we are learning.
This year has definitely been one of change, both sad and …
well … nothing short of miraculous. As
we close out the year, we reflect on all that we have been given. God has been overwhelmingly good to us,
blessing us far beyond measure and far beyond anything we could ever pass on to
others.
