2025 – A Year In Review

As I reflect on this past year, I can’t help but think of the song, “Another Year is Dawning”, an old hymn of long ago, back in 1874, to be exact. This song sums it up best, with the last line putting it all together – another year for Thee. This year has been a year of great joy, great sorrow, growth, reflection, and anticipation. Without going any further, here’s the lyrics to this song, and I hope in some way, this is also a testament to your life as well:

1. Another year is dawning!
Dear Master, let it be,
In working or in waiting,
Another year with thee.
Another year of leaning
Upon thy loving breast,
Of ever deeper trusting,
Of Quiet, happy rest.

2. Another year of mercies,
Of faithfulness and grace,
Another year of gladness
Enlightened by thy face.
Another year of progress,
Another year of praise,
Another year of proving
Thy presence all the days.

3. Another year of service,
Of witness for thy love;
Another year of training
For holier work above.
Another year is dawning!
Dear Master, let it be,
On Earth or else in Heaven,
Another year for thee!

Here’s our year in pictures…

We started of 2025 with tremendous relief and gratitude, as I reached ONE YEAR post-bone marrow transplant, which is HUGE milestone in the transplant world. AND…still cancer FREE! We are still in awe of the gift my donor gave me – the gift of life!

My friend, Brianna (who is from Minnesota) and I, met in Arizona for a long weekend! It was such a restful, rejuvenating, and refreshing time together!

We were blessed to celebrate my dad’s 75th anniversary on March 2!

And we celebrated Mazy’s 10th birthday, and my mother-in-law’s 70th birthday!

On March 31, my precious dad met his Savior face-to-face. Words are hard to come by to describe the grief and yet peace we have knowing he is free from the limitations of ALS. No time is ever enough time. I miss his wisdom, simple joy, smile, faith, gentleness, and humbleness, each day. But I’m also challenged by each of them as well, to live on the legacy he so quietly led with. Even more so, I am humbled by the gift of Christ and the eternal hope we have in Him. All praise be to God.

My dad was incredibly proud to have served his country, and this is a picture I will always hold close. My dad always living and loving well, in whatever he did. What a legacy he left.

During Spring Break, our family headed to New Smyrna Beach with our friends for a week!

Oh the many faces of Maggie…

Mazy and I took our annual trip to Mackinac City and Island! A tradition we hope to keep, whether we go back to the same place or not, but a tradition we treasure together!

On my family’s vacation, we made ornaments out of my dad’s old shirts her wore! My niece was told about this idea and we knew we had to do it and I am SO THANKFUL we did! Oh the memories that are tied to such a little ornament!

For the 3rd time, we saw Dude Perfect at Van Andel Arena! And once again, it did not disappoint!

For our mission trip this year, we went to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and we ended up dropping Mazy off at our friend’s house in Luverne, Minnesota, on our way out there! She had the time of her LIFE out there and is already asking to stay there again for a week. We couldn’t be more grateful to our friends for taking her for a whole week!

We are so thankful for the opportunity to experience mission trips with our youth group kids, as they always offer such intimate times of growth spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically.

We had season passes to Dutch Village and boy did we make good use out of them!

Oh these two…

Mid-August, Mazy started 5th grade! And I started work at Mazy’s school again as well, working 3 days a week as a paraprofessional.

On September 3, we took our dog, Maggie, to the vet because she had been sick. Little did we know that it would lead to a chain of events that would eventually lead us to putting her down 12 hours later. Never in our minds did we see this coming and to this day, we still can’t believe she’s gone. This was a shock for all of us, and especially for Mazy, as she had to say goodbye to her best friend. And when I say her best friend, for those who know Mazy and Maggie, you know the intimate bond they had.

We kept the pool open til late September and tried to live up every moment we could before we had to close it!

We “camped” with friends at a local campground, even though we didn’t put a camper out! We will never forget that one, it was almost 90 degrees in the beginning of October, but oh what fun we had!

We went to the Conference Ground’s Fall Fest again this year!

Mazy was J.J. McCarthy this year for Halloween:

The end of October brought on GLASSES for Mazy! Doesn’t she look absolutely ADORABLE?

Mazy is playing indoor soccer again with friends from school!

Since losing Maggie, Mazy decided she can’t handle saying goodbye to another “forever” dog, so we decided to do Rover, which is basically the VRBO for dog sitting. We’ve dogsat for a variety of dogs and each of them love Mazy this much:

Another year of hunting and this year DAN GOT A DEER! A solid 8 point!

Mazy went with Dan to deer camp this year:

Unity Christian High School’s football team went to state, so we all went to Ford Field for the first time!

Mazy and Dan went to Winning At Home’s Daddy/Daughter Dance once again:

Oh the joys of Christmas!

We also went camping at the Conference Grounds for a week, spent a week with my family on a lake, and I’m sure I’m missing many other events, but these are what I could find pictures of :).

One thing you may have noticed is that I did not post ANY pictures of hospitalizations! God so graciously gave us a reprieve from overnight stays at the hospital and what a GIFT that has been. A major milestone for our family. One thing I’ve learned about having a BMT, cancer for 2 years, and being a chronic heart failure patient, is life is so fragile, and yet once you experience either one, they will always be a part of your life. Survivorship, as they call it, is a battle at times, but it is worth every battle. The body, I’ve learned, can do incredible things when the healing hand of God is in it. This past year has been one of transition, learning better ways of living, making better decisions, all while relying on the sovereign hand of God to number our days.

For this year, we are thankful. For this year, I pray the last verse of the song above. May it be…

Another year of service,
Of witness for thy love;
Another year of training
For holier work above.
Another year is dawning!
Dear Master, let it be,
On Earth or else in Heaven,
Another year for thee!

May this coming year be one of nearness with our Savior, tremendous trust in His unfailing promises and love, and constant guiding of His hand. All glory be to Christ alone.