Reflections of 2009 & Dreams for 2010

Although 2009 was filled with various trials for us, it still had numerous memories that I will always cherish. Therefore, after reading a post by a dear friend of mine, I have decided to recap my favorite memories of 2009 for each month. As I have entered into my adult years, I am realizing more and more that the years do indeed fly by. I thought I would record these memories on our blog so that we can continuously reflect upon them, and rejoice for He has done great things!

January: We kicked off the New Year at the Cotton Bowl, and brought home a win beating Texas Tech 47-34! Kyle celebrated the win at Six Flags and I spent the day shopping in Dallas with Chelsea, a disciple and friend of mine. Kyle and I also had a wonderful date night in downtown Memphis at a Brad Paisley concert!

February: It snowed in Oxford! This is quite a big deal in Mississippi, and it was our first snow in our new home! We celebrated Valentine's Day at The Oxford Heart Ball. Campus Crusade hosted a Women's Retreat, and I got to share on worldliness...what a fun weekend with the girls!

March: Legally Blonde at The Orpheum with my best friend Hayley! Kyle and I took 30 students to Italy for Spring Break, and for the first time Isaac had a student pray with him to receive Christ!!! At the end of March, my sister and niece, Molly Kate, came to visit me for a week!

April: We celebrated Easter with Kyle's family in Oxford. I planted my first blueberry bush, tomato plant, and a pot herbs. I went to a cooking class with three friends given by the chef of Yocona River Inn...we learned how to cook puff pastry a thousand different ways!

May: Kyle and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary with a trip to the Delta! We had dinner at Giardina's with bread pudding for dessert, and spent the night at The Alluvian. What a fabulous day! We also spent three weeks in Destin at Greek Summit, and took 4 students with us. It was an incredible project, and we loved getting to know the students from SC!

June: Girls Weekend in Oxford...Katie, my best friend from childhood, her mom, and my mom all came to Oxford for the weekend. We ate, shopped, and ate some more, and stayed up talking for hours! So much fun! Our dear friends Craig and Missy got married, and we had a blast all weekend long. One of the best rehearsal dinners ever!

July: This month was jammed packed with memories! ALL of my family came to Oxford to celebrate the 4th, and they all stayed in our house! We watched the fireworks at Swayze Field for the first time, and Molly Kate loved it! Kyle and I took a trip to Chicago, and had a wonderful time: we toured every museum in the city, ate some delicious deep dish pizza, and watched the Cardinals beat the Cubs! I celebrated my 27th birthday in Chicago with some shopping on the Miracle Mile, and Kyle also had a surprise party for me in Oxford! We ended the month in Colorado at our National Staff Conference. We loved hearing from Tim Keller, and had lots of fun hiking with The Jenkins!

August: Ole Miss graced the cover of Sports Illustrated for the 3rd time in one year!

Chick-Fil-A opened its doors in Oxford! Back to School, and Coach Houston Nutt spoke at our first weekly meeting! Kyle's grandfather celebrated his 77th birthday!

September: Our women's ministry held its first progressive dinner, and Christie, Callie, and Chelsea hosted a spectacular dinner at their home. Football season began, and we eagerly awaited what was in store for the #6 Ole Miss Rebels.

October: Davide, the Italian student that became a Christian over Spring Break, visits Oxford for 12 days! Oh, did we have fun with an Italian in MS. He attended his first college football game, and cooked 5 lbs. of pasta for The Grove. Fun times! Kyle and I dressed up as a Taco, and a Mexican for Halloween!

November: Laura, Molly Kate, and I visited Brandon, and Hattiesburg for several days. I enjoyed spending time with all of my family, and shopping at Mistletoe. Kyle and I spent a week at Orange Beach with my family, and celebrated Thanksgiving with all the Thompsons.

December: Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, need I say more! What an incredible opportunity for my Dad, and I am extremely grateful that we got to share in building the Heathcock's home! I hosted a Christmas dinner for Kyle's family, and we enjoyed an evening of fondue, and games! After many parties, and lots of fun-filled family time, we headed to Atlanta for Unveiled, soaked up some incredible teaching from David Platt, and rang in the New Year!

I am definitely thankful for all the memories of 2009, and I greatly look forward to what 2010 has in store for The Coles! I recently read an article from Campus Crusade's national director, Steve Douglas, and it highly encouraged me to move forward into 2010 with dreams and resolutions. Paul the apostle said, "Forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. " (Philippians 3:13-14) Steve Douglass wrote, "There are some lessons in that passage for each of us. By all means, we should be grateful to God for all that He has done in the past, but know that God is not through with us yet. He has many more people who need to come to Him. As we enter a new year, let's not stop with reflections. May we move on to dreams, plans, and resolutions, and then to further action in the power of the Holy Spirit. In the spirit of beginning a new year and in the spirit of the exhortation of the apostle Paul, let us reach forward and press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called you and me."

I have never been one to make New Year's resolutions, but after reading these words I decided I would enter into 2010 with some resolutions and some dreams! Therefore, I am going to share below some things I would like to improve in 2010, and some things I am hoping for in 2010.

1. I would like to be a better wife to my precious husband--I spend lots of time doing things for Kyle, but I need to spend more time just being with him and enjoying his company. I want to give him more of my attention because He deserves it! We would also like to have more date nights!

2. I would like to be a better friend. I definitely am the world's worst at phone calls! I want to take the time to have long conversations with good friends, and send notes when I know a friend needs it. Simply put, I need to do a better job of keeping up with friends - not just facebook them!

3. I would like to improve my Italian -- if I learn just a few phrases that will be an improvement! Being that I have such a huge heart for this country, I really need to invest some time in learning their language! And I think it so beautiful when spoken!

4. I want to be more healthy! Yes, the doctor has even ordered me to lose some pounds! I really do want to improve our diet by cooking healthier meals, and eating more whole grain foods. and a lot less sugar. I have my 10 year reunion this summer which is quite the incentive!

5. I want to share my faith more this year. I am going to pray for the opportunity to share the gospel with someone new at least once a week. I also want to do a better job of reaching out to our neighbors, and the community of Oxford. I hope to see a revival in the sororities at Ole Miss, specifically the KD house --may that begin when Marian Jordan comes to speak on January 28th!

6. Budget -- I somewhat cringe when I hear that word! I do want to be a better steward of our money. Kyle and I both are going to try really hard to stick to our budget this year. This means I am cutting way back on extra spending, and buy only things I need. For those of you who know me really well, this means less shopping which I happened to love. We desire to increase our giving by 10% each year, therefore we need to spend less.

7. Spend more time reading, and less time on the Internet and watching TV. No, I am not cutting out the Bachelor or Dancing with the Stars! But, I do waste so much time surfing the Internet or reading Facebook when I have hundreds of books I want to read. I love to read, and I think this would be such a better use of my time. (Book List coming soon)

8. I want to be completely surrendered to the Lord and abide in Him. I desire for my heart to be dominated by an affection for Christ! I want to spend more time with the Lord. I want to devote more time to studying His word, memorizing scripture, prayer, and fasting. I really want to grow more in spiritual disciplines.

9. This is totally random, but I would love to take a photography class. I just think this is something I would truly enjoy. I will have to see if I can find one in Oxford.

10. I want to develop a greater concern for the needs of this world. After hearing from Dr. Platt, I don't want to just give, I want to go! I don't want to chase the American dream, but instead I want to spend my life taking the gospel to the unreached people groups of this world.

11. Last but not least, I desire for the Lord to increase our family in 2010. I pray that the Father will grant us a child (or two) this year! Kyle and I strongly desires to be parents, and we trust that the Lord will give us a family in His timing. You can pray that will be 2010!

I am certain there are many more things I could include on this list, but these are definitely at the forefront of my mind and heart! I am also quite the realist, and I realize that most likely all of this will not happen! However, I am going to dream, and trust the Lord for BIG things in 2010!

" Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen."

Ephesians 3:20-21