Goodbye 2010, Hello 2011

Happy New Year bloggers!!!! :)  I can't believe we are welcoming 2011 tonight at midnight!  This year has flown by, but I find myself saying that every year it seems.  I want to take some time to look back on the great events for the Carpenter's of 2010....

• We celebrated our 1 year anniversary in October!
• We had several great vacations....Santa Monica and LA, Horseshoe Bay, San Diego, Riviera Maya Mexico, Rockport and Fredericksburg :)
• Our niece Kyleigh Reese Hindes was born in June.
• We had lots of friends get married (Justin & Courtni Gresham, Sean & Melanie Townsend, Matt & Aleece Nelson, Chance & Alexi Kutac, Kyle & Jessica Tompane, Jacob & Jamie Hill) 
• Jerrod and I started serving in the Youth Group at church in August
• I ran the San Antonio Half Marathon with my sister
• Jerrod went to his first Fightin Tx Aggie Football Game in the fall :)
• We committed to becoming full-time missionaries in Africa in 2011!!!!!!

I want to challenge each of you to pray for the hard stuff in 2011.  Ask God if you're at the job you're supposed to be at...even if it's your dream job.  Ask God if you should pick up and move, maybe he's calling you to another city.  Ask God to show you where He wants you to serve in your community or at your church, maybe lead a bible study or start a ministry.  Jerrod and I had NO idea what 2010 would bring, and we definitely didn't think God was going to ask us to move across the world!  Different things happened throughout the year to make if possible for us to do this and now we are about to send out support letters, apply for visas, get our shots, etc etc.  Trust us, it's hard to think about quitting the jobs we love, leaving the friends/family we have, putting our "American Dreams" on hold, but we know God will take care of us and teach us things we would never have learned if we don't follow him.  We honestly have no idea what is ahead of us in 2011, but we are trusting that God has us right where He wants us on this roller coaster we call life.  One of my mentors in college is in Haiti right now serving with her husband and 4 children.  Check out their blog, it blesses me/challenges me everytime I read it!  http://allthingshendrick.blogspot.com/

That's all for now....HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!