The steps that have gotten us here...

Step 1 - Sean gets injured during a routine climb(my husband used to climb and build cell towers).  He tears ligaments(2) and starts a lengthy process towards recovery.

Step 2 - September 11th, 2006 - Sean is sent home to recover from his injury and is placed on temporary disability.

Step 3 - September 12th, 2006 - A pregnancy test confirms a VERY unplanned pregnancy with an estimated due date of May 5, 2007.

Step 4 - October, 2006 - We move into a duplex which we rent for more space for our growing family.

Step 5 - March 2007 - The insurance company has exhausted its resources(so we are told) and sean is cleared for work despite the fact that his previous employer hasn't returned his calls to return.  We are PAYCHECK less...

Step 6 - April 24th, 2007 - Sean interviews, gets offered and accepts an offer to work for WT Engineering for more money than he was making prior to his injury with a company that is more stable. 

Step 7 - April 25th, 2007 - Our fifth daughter, Kendell Seana is born!

Step 8 - April 30th, 2007 - Sean starts his very first day at WT.

Step 9 - Summer 2009 - My grandma moves to Woodstock across the street from us.

Step 10 - Fall 2009 - Our insurance picks up the treatment for sean's ankle as a re-injury when he falls on uneven ground.

Step 11 - October 2009 - Our house is in foreclosure.  We have been notified that our landlord isn't paying the mortgage anymore and we sign a 2 year lease for our own protection.

Step 12 - October 2009 - Grandma and I meet with a real estate lawyer to discuss the purchase of the duplex(both sides), an offer was made for the short sale of our home and the other side of the home where grandma will move in and live!

Step 13 - November 2009 - Our lawyer for Seans workmens compensation case contacts us to tell us that we are in a position to settle the case.

Some of these things were direct blessings.  We know that.  Some of them were challenges that we have faced together and as a family.  We know that.  But what we didn't know at the time was how this tapestry was going to look while standing back and looking at the big picture.  We only saw the little piece that God was painting...and I would be lying if I said that I wasn't angry with God at times, or found myself asking Him if He really knew what he was doing, but when it is all said and done this is what these steps will have brought us to..

-the purchase of our home at a great price
-grandma living on the other side of our wall(a true blessing)
-Sean getting the treatment and pain block that he needs to be pain free
-the ability to say that we are DEBT FREE!
-a job for Sean with a stable company where he has been able to bring other guys on.
-a spunky and amazing daughter, one that will certainly live up to the "baby" role quite well!
-health insurance
-a 401k
-a stronger marriage

If these aren't things to be thankful for, I don't know what is.  We truly are blessed and the timing of this couldn't be more perfect!

James 1:17 - Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.