Decade Done, 2019 Fun

It’s the last day of 2019, so I thought I would share a few highlights of the decade and think about some of the blessings that this year has brought!

Also, there will be some changes to this blog in 2020 – praying through the details at the moment! The blog has changed a lot since it has started (especially the way that I write…), but now it’s set to change again – watch this space.

Decade Done (2010-2019)

• As an 18 year old, I travelled around the USA by myself and fell in love with the country and the people.
• I started Plymouth University in 2010 and graduated with a First Class Honours degree in Geography with International Relations (BAHons)
• At 19 I was diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma.
• In 2011 I started this blog to write about the experience of cancer but still trusting God through it.
• I finished 6 months of chemotherapy.
• I re-started university from scratch after treatment.
• 2012 was the year I got baptised – a day after my 21st birthday.
• I met the guy who I’d marry.
• I married said guy, Joel, in 2014 🙂
• We moved to Exeter, Devon and I experienced unemployment which got me thinking about where my identity is placed – and I found out it is not in what I ‘do’ for a living! That’s been a tough lesson to learn…
• I worked in an oncology department as a nurse auxiliary for a time helping cancer patients. It was a privilege and I do miss it.
• I experienced the loss of friends through sickness and death.
• In 2016-2017, I became a youth work trainee with South West Youth Ministries where I got to work with young people and talk about Jesus.
• I attended the Premier Digital Conference and Awards 2016 and won ‘Young Blogger of the Year’.
• Freelance writing became something I thought I should pursue – and bit by bit, I’m doing it.
• We moved to a small market town in Devon where we currently reside – I don’t recommend moving somewhere new when you’re about to pop, but we got through it!
• In 2017, I became a mum to a gorgeous boy – Jonathan. Post-partum was super hard and I still struggle at times, but I have been so blessed.
• I’ve met some incredibly amazing people throughout the whole decade – very thankful for each one and the friends who I have made.
• As the decade comes to an end, I am so thankful how God has held me through these turbulent years and I can see how my heart is changing as He works on me!

2019 Fun

• I got my first rejection from a book publisher right at the start of the year – so I am now officially a real writer, right?
• We made some BIG decisions as a family which I am sure I’ll write more about in the future…
• I participated in my first Alpha course and will be helping to lead a group in 2020. If you’ve never been on Alpha, I encourage you to give it a go.
• We celebrated 5 years of marriage!
• Jonathan turned 2! We had him dedicated at church because we are thankful for his life and he is in God’s hands – Jonathan’s name means ‘God has given’.
• I got a regular paying writing gig which is a BIG deal. Praying for more in the New Year.
• I got to listen to some super teaching at the Ligonier Conference in London.
• I turned 28 years old and it’s been super special reflecting on the last 10 years.
• My family have been amazing each step of the way, encouraging and uplifting me in all of the highs and lows.

There have been countless times where I have messed up, let people down, struggled with the same stuff over and over again and have been at my lowest. Yet, time and time again God’s faithfulness and abounding grace are ever before me, behind me, around me and in me.

As 2019 closes and 2020 beckons, here is my prayer for fellow believers in Jesus as we seek to follow Him this next year, decade and chapter of our lives:

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:18-19 (NIV)

See you in 2020 – with a few changes taking shape…

Thank you to every single reader of this blog to date. It blesses me that you read these words and I’m very thankful for you.

Happy New Year!