Another year has gone by... (yikes!)

I must be honest. When I was a kid I really disliked the fact that my birthday was so close to Christmas (and I'm not even a big birthday person). It was like all the excitement (read: presents) for the year was compressed into a measly few weeks. As I grew up, that changed quickly. Now it's like a New Years do-over for me. Or New Years is a trial run for my ACTUAL new year. There is so much joy to be found in a new year. It's like opening the door to a whole new adventure. Now I do understand that not everyone feels that way due to our lovely human fear of aging, but if you aren't excited about turning a year older, then you can at least be excited about a new adventure, right?

As I close the door on last year, I move into this new year with joy and thankfulness. Every year is filled with happiness and sorrow, laughter and struggles, lessons and learning. I am grateful for each bit of those things that made up my past year as it has taught me and helped me grow. This year is filled with many unknowns, and I'm jumping two feet in knowing that I am never alone and that my God will always catch me.

For the past month I have been feeling the strong need to simplify my life a bit. Even living in a small room, the amount of things accumulated is unnecessary, at least in my opinion. It's not like I have a ton of stuff, but I DO have stuff that I certainly DON'T need. I'm pretty sure we could all say that! As a birthday present to myself I am clearing my room of 27 things I do not need in honor of turning 27. Why not start the year with a little challenge eh? Want to join me? You know you should ;) It may seem like a very simple thing, but it is unbelievable how attached we become to material things that are not important and that we probably don't even use. So whether you want to now, or want to do some spring cleaning later on in the year, I want to challenge you... Evaluate what you have. Consider the word NEED. Act. Clean our your closets. Clean out your junk drawer (there are people in the world that would take EVERYTHING in your junk drawer, make something from it, sell it, and buy their family food for the day). Be aware of the fact that we use ridiculous excuses to live in extreme excess. Just go for it! You'll be glad you did :)

So, to finish off this little blog, let me give you a quick fundraising update. God is SO SO good. All the time! Only $3,240 to go until my last payment of clinic fees is provided in FULL! I am continually blown away by the generosity of friends and their willingness to be a part of what God is doing here in Tabuk. THANK YOU!

A couple prayer requests:

• For continued provision of funds before Feb 1st. Click the PayPal link to support, or contact me at pagnucco.alexandra@gmail.com.
• For my poor computer... contain your laughter people. I have had my fair share of computer issues since I have been here and am struggling to keep patience regarding my current issues. I need this computer to last until Oct 1st.. that's it :) Just pray it stays together.
• The Mom's and babies we care for at Abundant. Good deliveries, healthy babies, and healthy mommas.

Thanks for reading, friends!

Much love,
A