2009 – What a year! As we wrap up the third year of our life together, we are looking forward to the exciting new changes right around the corner in 2010.
2009 was the year of travel. We feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to minister in East Asia, Haiti and Salt Lake City to the unreached, the orphans, and the less fortunate. We also feel very blessed to have afforded the time (and money, thanks to Dave Ramsey!) to take two amazing vacations to Hawaii and Whistler as well! Needless to say, traveling and experiencing new places, people, and cultures is something Jim and I enjoy very much and hope to continue in the future.
2009 was also the year for health issues. We started out the year with Jim’s digestive problems of the past three years culminating in needing his gallbladder removed, which he had done in March. We also managed to acquire two different parasites during our trip to Haiti that wreaked havoc on our bodies for awhile. I am happy to say we’
ve taken care of our respective parasites successfully! And finally, shortly after getting rid of one parasite, I learned I had unexpectedly acquired another – but this one I
wouldn’t be able to get rid of for nine months. We are thrilled to share that we are pregnant with our first child, due June 19, 2010. Pregnancy has not been kind to my body, and due to
hyperemesis graviderum (or severe all-day sickness), I’m juggling three different medications to keep myself healthy enough to stay out of the hospital and continue working. I am almost through my first trimester and hoping better days are in sight!
Jim is also wrapping up his second year at
Quinault Baptist Church as the Minister of Youth and Worship, and continues to love what he is doing. He is excited to see the youth and worship departments’ spiritual development, and is looking forward to taking youth on his third World Changers trip to repair homes for the less fortunate in northern Washington state this summer. I am still working as a Registered Nurse in Labor and Delivery at
Kadlec Regional Medical Center and hoping to go part-time when I take on the full-time job of “Mommy” this June. I feel very grateful to work in the department I do with a wonderful group of nurses and doctors who have taken such good care of me already this pregnancy!
We have also been very fortunate (and thankful) to live with Jim’s parents this past year to finish paying off debt and save up for our own home. Thanks to the knowledge we’
ve gained from Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University, we’
ve paid off an embarrassing amount of debt and have our finances in order, which we feel very blessed to have done prior to the birth of our first child. We have also been searching for our next home over the past few months and are currently in negotiations over one right now. Jim and I hope be able to be in settled in our new home just after the 1st of the year!
Of all the seasons of the year, Jim and I love this one the best. Every year during the Christmas season we are reminded of the great love God has for us in that He sent His Son to pay the payment for our sins so we might have relationship with that very loving Creator God. Our prayer is that you would be reminded of His great love for you this season as well.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Jim and
Daja Brown
7 weeks
Today I find myself celebrating three years of marriage to an unselfish, Godly, loving, devoted man. He has stuck with me for better and for worse, in sickness and in health. He exemplifies what Paul meant when he called husbands to love their wives as Christ loves the church.