The Sterk’s Life in 2011

Our life over this past year has been nothing what we expected, yet thankful for every single part of it. As I’ve reflected on the past year, there were so many things that we did, that I think helped us get through some of the tough times.

We kicked off the year with a rather smooth January.

In February, I had my 6 month heart appointment and that was when we realized heart surgery would be coming soon. We were just thankful for some guidance. We then headed to the Dominican Republic for 10 days, on a church mission trip. Again, an extremely life-changing trip – we are still experiencing the effects of it! We will forever have a love for the people of the DR!

March brought on the Simply Youth Ministry Conference – highlights were eating breakfast with one of our youth ministry “heroes” Walt Mueller and his wife, and also meeting Matt Maher. Straight from there, I headed to Florida to meet my friends Tracie and Lauren Vriezema. It was a wonderful vacation with friends in a beautiful state!

In April, we went fishing a few times already. Fishing is Dan and I’s “thing.” I would say we were catching coho salmon, but Dan is the only one who caught something. We also went to Cassapolis for a mini-family vacation with Dan’s family. A great weekend away! I also decided to quit cleaning at church – it was just too much for my heart and I decided that my health and feeling good, were more important than any dollar I could earn.

May led us to our first Detroit Tiger’s game of the year with my parents (we bought them tickets for Christmas last year). The day after we headed to Fripp Island, SC for our 5-year wedding anniversary trip. It was a long drive, but it went very fast and we are so blessed to have had a good week spent with just each other. We also continued the tradition of going camping with our siblings in Hart – though a tad cold, it was wonderful time spent with family!

June was a whirlwind, but a blast it was! We went to another Detroit Tiger’s game, went on the yearly Geurink family vacation to Stony Lake, went to Shipshewana for a day with my aunts, grandma, and mom, and started the Sunday afternoon tradition of playing beach volleyball with our youth group kids.

In July, Dan headed to Tennessee for a week, to further his learning, and we also went on our yearly mission trip with our Roots kids. We headed back to Newark, NJ – what an incredibly trip it was. The kids still talk about that trip.

August brought on another heart appointment, where I received an event heart monitor, to use for a month. At times it was a pain, but I was thankful for the answers it gave. We headed to Michigan’s Adventure with our Impact kids for a day of fun. My sister-in-law and I also ran our first garage sale, which I would say was successful. We also spent the month gearing up for the new youth group season.

In September, Katie and I headed to the Michigan football season opener – a game we will NEVER forget! It was cut short because of severe storms – never have we experienced such heat and then were so cold because of the rain. What memories. Dan headed to Cadillac Lake a week later with the Van Lente family to go fishing – always a great time away for him. Then I was gone scrapbooking with my sisters for the weekend. We hit up another Detroit Tiger’s game – a NIGHT game. Then we finished out the month going to a Lecrae/Trip Lee concert – the best concert I’ve ever been to. Oh!

In October, I found out that I had a “new” heart problem (besides the mitral valve leakage): I have sinus tychardia. That was the answer as to why I was feeling the way I was for too many months. My heart rate would jump to 140 without warning. I am not on a different heart med and it has definitely helped! Dan headed to squirrel camp for a weekend, and the next week, we headed to Fernandina Beach, Florida, for a long weekend, to visit our friend Lauren. It was probably one the best get-away vacations we’ve ever taken. Also in October, we realized our lives, as we knew them would be changed forever. Tim and Brenda Vriezema came over on October 10 to tell us Brenda would be willing to be a gestational carrier for us. No matter how this story concludes, our lives will never be the same. October was filled with MUCH thankfulness, MUCH prayer, and MANY tears. We never DREAMED of this, but to this day, we are continually thankful and humbled.

November started off with me needing to go to the ER for costochondritis – irritation of the sternum – my wires that held my sternum together caused a whole lot of irritation. It was a longer recovery than expected, yet it happened at the perfect timing. Dan headed to deer camp for a week, which wasn’t successful in the hunting area, but was successful in the relaxation area. Thanksgiving was even more special this year, considering the situation God had introduced to us the month before – we will never be able to thank Brenda enough for her gift to us – it has only pointed us and grown us closer to Christ. We also had our first Fertility Center appointment, which for us, was a success. Oh, and we finished paying off all our school loans this month – a HUGE milestone for us!

And finally December. We enjoyed a lot of family time and have really enjoyed celebrating what Christ’s birth really means. There was something special this year about this Christmas. Even though no one is pregnant and there is no baby in the making – just the thought of being given a gift that we will never be able to repay someone for. That is just a glimpse of what Christ has done for us. Christmas 2011 will forever be a special Christmas in our minds! On a personal note, I was able to read the whole Bible in a year! That is something I have wanted to do for years – I just never stuck with it.

Now 2012! We are SO EXCITED to see what this year brings! It will be interesting to see a year from now, what our life will look like. Of course we are praying that 2012 will bring us a positive pregnancy test for Brenda (which is at least a half year away yet), but regardless of what happens, we are just thankful to be given the opportunities we have! Lord willing, we are hoping to go to the youth ministry conference again, see a best friend of mine get married, go on two family vacations, go to Alaska with our Roots kids (and hopefully I can go this time), and most of all, just learn to trust in God’s perfect plan for us. A personal goal is to try and read through the Bible in a year again! It was challenging at times, yet completely worth every minute!

We can’t wait to see what God has in store for us this new year! We know there will be challenges, but with God, He will give us the strength to get through anything!