January 3

I know it has been along time since my last post, and it is with a thankful heart that I sit here this morning and praise God for the healing that has continued in my body since the transplant.  I cannot even remember feeling as good as I have this past month.  I wake each morning with energy to give to each day, what a blessing!

You’d think with all that energy that I would have done better at getting Christmas cards out this year, but I’m afraid that didn’t happen.  I sure did enjoy hearing from all of you who so faithfully send pictures and cards each year!  It is so fun to see how families grow and change!  Life takes us all so many places, and we all do so many things, that if we don’t take time to review it is easy to forget how blessed we really are.

I guess since I missed the Christmas greetings to all, I will take time this morning to recap 2010 in the Eckert home.  Tom continues to enjoy his job at Baldwin & Lyons.  It has given him so many chances for advancement and is a constant challenge for him!  He is actually one of these guys who needs to be challenged to be motivated so it is all good believe me!  Around mid-October he was able to set aside a near daily occurance in our home that really ate up his R&R time at home, Dialysis!  He was so faithful to be my main support and assistant in this so that we could do this process at home!  It was a blessing to do it at home, but oh how blessed not to have to do it at all anymore!  Equipment is gone!  2nd guest room waiting to be made over! 

After a long struggle with health issues, to stressful to even list here, I (Bethany), was blessed by a dear friend this past fall with the gift a kidney!   The whole event was such a spiritual journey for not only me, but my donor as well!  I am so thankful that Mary King was willing to follow God’s leading in her life!  Scott and Mary two incredibly special people to Tom and myself!  As Tom has so often said, “how in the world can you even begin to say thank-you, for such a gift?”,  it has so reminded us once again in a very personal way, of the gift of life that God has given each one of us if  we just accept it!   Thank-you Scott & Mary!  Thank-you, Jesus!

Braedon, our growing up handsome boy!  He has changed so much this year! In size alone, he has grown over three inches, gone from size 4 to size 7/8 clothes, size 2 boys shoes!  I can’t begin to even keep up!  He has such a tender spirit, and we are so thankful for his heart that is so open to learning about the Bible and God.  He loves his Christian School, our church, and he constantly amazes us with the prayers that he prays each night!  I ask that you pray with us, that he will continue to build a sure foundation in his life on Jesus Christ! 

As we start off this new year we are completely satisfied, knowing that whatever this year brings, God will keep us!  Not to say that there won’t be hard things to bare, or that we are expecting a easy road to walk on, we are just SURE of who is in charge, and rest in that this year!  

Blessings to each of you!

Bethany, Tom, and Braedon