A fresh start.

I have been meaning to actually start our family's blog back up for quite some time now. We're quickly approaching our due date with Anne-Kelly (3 weeks!), and I feel like a royal failure considering that I haven't started this up earlier.

As most of you know, Brent and I are living in Mauldin, SC, and our family and friends are spread out literally all over the US! So...we decided blogging would be a great way for people to catch up with our growing, changing family :)

So where do I begin? Let me start with a little recap: this has been a crazy year. We moved to SC exactly one year ago, and Brent started working for Duke Energy. He loves his job, which is great -- we couldn't be more blessed in that way. I worked this year as a teacher at Mauldin High School, teaching journalism and writing to kids there. I, however, had to go ahead and take off a little before the year ended at the advice of our doctor. Nothing is really wrong with Anne-Kelly or me, they just thought it was time for me to take things a little easier! I'm going to be staying home with Anne-Kelly next year, which I am super excited about! I cannot tell you how much joy it brings me to know that I get to spend this time with my child. It really is a blessing from the Lord!

On a sadder note, we have also experienced a great loss this year. As some of you know, Brent's father, Gary McDaris, fought a long, hard fight against brain cancer over the last year and a half. However, God saw fit to take Gary home on April eighth of this year. This has been beyond hard for our family to get through, but as Brent's mom has said many times, "God is getting us through this somehow." What a strong mother-in-law I am blessed to have. Her faith in this time in one of life's deepest valleys is truly awe-inspiring. Please remember us in your prayers as we continue the grieving process.

So those are the big things we've been dealing with. But we cling to God's promises, whether the day be dark or full of light: "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28.

This has become a life-verse for us, and we claim it daily.

Which brings me to my next point: blessings. We have found it so important in these days of grief not to lose sight of the good things that God blesses us with daily. As Sara Groves once wrote in one of her earliest songs: "It's the every-day miracles/that keep my hope alive." This has been especially true for us. The blessing and impending arrival of a new life in our family is so exciting! From feeling those first little kicks, all the way through to now when she's almost here, we feel so blessed. We are both literally in awe of what God can do in creating this little life. We often sit in bed at night talking and asking ourselves questions like, "I wonder whose complexion she'll have," or "I wonder what her personality will be like," or even, "I wonder if she'll be musical like me or athletic like you?" All these 'wonderings' are fun, and we can't wait to see what's in store for us!

By the way, I also wanted to take time to explain how we arrived at our name choice: Anne-Kelly Grace McDaris. We put a lot of thought and prayer even into what to call this child, and we knew that we wanted the name to have meaning, depth, and a sense of family. We wanted a strong name that would carry her through her whole life well. So let me take it apart for you and explain what her name means for us:

Anne: Anne was an easy choice for us. Brent's mother's entire name is Sandra Ann, and being the literary nut that I am, my best-loved classic book growing up was Anne of Green Gables. Somehow, deep down, I think I always knew that I'd have an Anne. God just gave us all the more reason to use it by making it Sandy's middle name. As far as the spelling goes, for those of you not familiar with the book, Anne of GG always made sure that she was called 'Anne with an E,' so with Sandy's permission, we tacked the 'e' on the end for good measure! We are so pleased to name our child after her grandmother: an amazing woman of faith!

Kelly: Kelly is a name that I had always loved very much. It is the middle name of my grandmother, Patricia Kelly. Mee-ma, as she was always known to us kids, is also an amazing woman of strength and faith as well. I consider Mee-Ma more than a grandma to me: she's been a friend of my heart for my entire life. It is such an honor to name my daughter after a woman who invested so much in me. She was given the middle name Kelly after her grandparents. Kelly was their Irish surname.

Grace: Grace is a special name for two reasons: Brent's paternal grandmother is named Grace, and I couldn't think of a more beautiful name for a more beautiful person. She, too, is a woman that loves the Lord, and I have learned so much of her 'grace' and courage through watching her deal with the loss of her son. Her reliance on God is pretty unbelievable. Also, the word 'grace' itself is one that is so important in our lives: it's a beautiful word-expression of the love God had for us when he sent Jesus to die for our sins. It is our hope that this component of her name will always serve as a reminder of what the Lord did out of love for her.

So, as you can see, we consider her name pretty special. :)

Well, I guess I've rambled enough. If you've made it this far, thanks for reading. And feel free to drop us a comment or a note if you'd like. We'd love to hear from you!