Reflections on 2015
I can hardly believe that today is the last day of the year. It feels like this year absolutely flew by. I'm sure there are a lot of things that I will forget to write about, but as I've done for the past two years, I've decided to write a brief overview of the highs and lows that our family experienced in 2015. The year started off with my health in a terrible state. I was incredibly sick with some gastrointestinal issues and some days could barely eat anything or even find the strength to get out of bed. I was rapidly losing weight and was visibly a lot thinner than my usual self. This was difficult on our family and worried Brooke as well as me. The worst things go through your mind especially when you have children, I couldn't imagine leaving my wife and my children without a husband and father. In January, we also moved into our new apartment in Harlem! This was such an answer to prayer, About a month into living in our new place, Aly strolled into our apartment to announce that she was going to be a big sister! I was working in my office when she walked in and I read her shirt, and looked up at Brooke in surprise and ask if she was serious, she sure was! We were overjoyed at this news!
Fast forward to about May, we were preparing to go on vacation to Oklahoma to visit family and friends. This was a much needed time away from our everyday routine. We spent 10 days and went to two weddings while in Oklahoma and Aly got to be a flower girl! She was the cutest little flower girl ever! This trip was also a turning point for my health, I started feeling way better and have been feeling way better ever since. We came back from Oklahoma rested and ready to get back to our normal routine, however a few days after we came back, Aly had another episode were she slept for basically 36 hours straight and was extremely lethargic. We spoke to our pediatrician as this was the 5th time this had happened and she was concerned that it could be something serious, so we took Aly to the ER and she had to stay in the hospital overnight for tests and observation. Luckily nothing was wrong with our daughter and today she is a healthy, active, energetic 2 year old! Come July, I lost my job, which was a pretty big blow for us financially. I would spend the next 3 months unemployed and going on interview after interview. At times I wondered why all this was happening to our family but in the midst of it all I was able to find peace in Christ, knowing that he is in control over my life and the life of my family. I was finally blessed with a new job and started at the end of September with a company that I really enjoy what I do and who I work with and for. My start date was exactly one month before our son was born, the Lord's timing is perfect! Two weeks later, we received some bad news that Brooke's employment was ending with one of her current positions. Again we are trusting in the Lord that he will provide for us! On October 28th, at 3:25(maybe later I don't know, there's a blog post about it haha), our son was born! This was only the second time in my life were I was overjoyed to the point of tears, the first time was Aly's birth. A few weeks later we celebrated Aly's second birthday. December was full of visits from from family and friends, celebrating Christmas, my birthday, my mother-in-law, my future sister-in-law (congrats Jason!) and plenty of other reasons! 2015 has certainly been a whirlwind of a year for us. Plenty of ups and downs, but through it all we remain firmly rooted in Christ as he is our hope. It is with joyous hearts that we pray:
Lord your goodness has been with us during another year, leading us through a twisting and uncertain wilderness of life, in retreat, helping us advance, when we feel beaten and tired, making sure headway for us. Your goodness will be with us in the year ahead.
Happy New Year,
The Arevalos