I'm still alive.....and an answered prayer!

Sorry for the 2 week hiatus. I do have a good excuse though. As most of you know, Paul and I have had 2 houses (which of course comes with 2 mortgage payments) since we got married. Paul's house has been on the market for almost 2 years now and when we tried to put mine on the market a year ago, we found out that the amount we'd lose just to sell it wasn't an amount we were even close to having or willing to give up if we did. It's been a long, exhausting and very trying time. Both Paul and I had roommates before we got married so it's been quite a financial hit for us. The Bible says in Psalm 37 that "the righteous will not be forsaken or have to beg for bread" and God has proven that to be true in His provision for us during this time.

We were going to list my house the first of January in hopes of the market being a little better after waiting another year. We were very much dreading having both houses on the market, especially knowing we would most likely end up losing a substantial amount to sell mine, after waiting for only God knows how long. But God had something far better in mind. My mom was to buy my townhouse!!! From the second that possibility arose, it was so obvious that God's hand was in the midst of it all. After a long wait and a sure-fire test of patience and trust, God has just freed us of having 2 mortgages! My mom closed on our house yesterday afternoon.

My good friend Ashley told me several times throughout this trial, "Get excited, because the longer you wait and the longer you persevere, the bigger I think God is going to answer this prayer." Boy was she right! I never would have dreamed it could turn out this good. You'd be here reading this all day if I listed all of the blessings that have come from this. My mom and us are both being blessed far more than we could have ever imagined.

The last several weeks have been spent packing, moving and all of the other fun logistics that come with selling a house. Needless to say, it's left very little time for blogging. We have moved into Paul's house and will be here until his sells. Although we often feel anxious for his to sell so we can be settled in a permanent home, we have clearly seen that His timing is perfect. Only by God's help and unending grace, we are learning to be content where we are instead of always thinking that "if just this would happen, we'd be happy."

As my dear friend Alexandra would say, "YOU BETTA PRAISE HIM!" And trust me, we are certainly praising Him!

Snowed in

Welp, we are on day two of being snowed in. Sort of, anyway. They were calling for the snow to start early yesterday morning so school was called off Sunday night. By 2:00 I had worn myself out from pouting all day about us not having one bit of snow yet. Snow days are fun, but only when it's actually snowing. I have to say that from what the weather idiots were certain was coming our way, the school system did the right thing by calling off school. It seemed like the snow was all around us, everywhere BUT here. But finally around 2:30 it started snowing and we ended up with about an inch. Now a nice layer of ice is on top of that, so who knows when we'll be back to school. I try not to get worked up about when we're gonna have to make the days up and just enjoy it now. It is SO nice that Paul and I are both teachers and get to be snowed in together. We may or may not get out of our PJs today.



I've been a little slack on the blogging lately; there hasn't been much to report from the Hicksters. Life is sweet and things are going well but we just haven't had anything new or exciting that is blog-worthy. Stayed tuned though, I'm thinking 2011 is going to bring some great things for us :)

Happy New Year

I can't believe another year has come and gone. They seem to get faster and faster every year. I am humbled when I think about all God blessed us with in the year 2010!

Just to name a few...Paul and I celebrated our first year of marriage, we had wonderful vacations with our families, I had the privilege of going back to Kenya-with my mom, lots of my friends had babies, we got to celebrate new marriages with several people very close to us, my cousin had her first baby and Paul and I got the honor of becoming his godparents, Paul's soccer team won the Soccer Spectacular for the first time, my Gram celebrated her 75th birthday, and I could go on and on. Although Paul and I had 2 mortgage payments throughout 2010, God's provision never failed and we are being refined through the process. We have so much to be thankful for.

I look very forward to what's in store for 2011. Happy New Year y'all!