Happy New Year

I must say that as January 1st was approaching I was both anticipating and dreading the coming of a new year. I admit that I was not really looking forward to starting school up again. I love teaching my kids, but I have been enjoying the break from our daily routine. It's a funny thing though - now that we have started up again, I am thrilled to get the kids back on their normal schedule! I am having a hard time putting my finger on just exactly what I needed a break from! Life is so much easier when your kids have a normal daily routine.
Far more than dreading the new year, I was excited about it for a multitude of reasons, among them was the anticipation of seeing what God would have for our family throughout this year. As most of you know, my husband Dave is running for Harford County Sheriff this year. You can visit his websight at www.trittforsheriff.com I am sure that this will bring many changes for our family, whether he wins the election or not. Dave will be extremely busy trying to run a campaign as well as continuing his full time job. We covet your prayers throughout this time. We both believe that God has lead Dave into this and that He will prove Himself faithful, however, we know it will be a struggle to maintain a healthy family life in the midst of everything else he must do.
While Dave is determined to include his family as much as possible in his campaigning, we know that there will be events that will not be appropriate for children to attend, as well as business dealings that Dave will have to take care of without us. Our family will also be forced into the "public lime-light" so to speak. I imagine that this will bring some negative repercussions along with it. Our desire throughout the whole thing is that God will be glorified and that His will will be done for our family. Thank you in advance for your prayers!
As Dave and I approached the New Year, we decided to address each of our children and give them a character quality to work on throughout 2006. I found a really great websight that lists a bunch of qualities as well as their definitions: www.characterqualities.com We prayed about each one and chose a different quality for each child according to his or her individual needs, then we sat down with each child on January 1st, and presented this quality to them, explained what exactly it means, and then prayed over them asking God to help them develop this particular quality. We are in the process now of printing out each quality and it's definition so that our kids can have these hanging up in their rooms as a constant reminder. We are excited to see how God will work in each of our children's lives.
We pray that God will bless you all as this New Year begins, and that you will keep Him the center of your lives, your marriages, and your families.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!