2013 In Review...

The wonderful thing about a year is that it is 365 days and then it is done.

Whether it was a fabulous year or not, come January 1st there is always new hope for the new year and that my friends can be very refreshing at times!

This past year was quite the topsy turvy year for our family.
There were many challenges, but, we kept the faith, persevered and made it through!  I would not call it the best year we've had, but, it has been a year filled with MANY lessons for us as a family.

There have been lessons in faith...
 and just free falling into God's hands when you finally let go and give your situation over to Him when you realize that you really don't have the control or the answers that you want or need.  LET GO...LET GOD :-)

There have been lessons in patience..
Combine three very active boys {one in the throes of puberty} plus one very sweet overworked husband trying to do everything for everyone and sometimes wearing pretty thing and throw in one well meaning, momma just trying to do her best to keep everyone {including herself} somewhat happy, healthy while bringing us closer to God.  Sometimes that recipe in itself is a lesson in both patience and perseverance!

There have been lessons is prioritizing while persevering.  
Believe it or not sometimes those two go hand in hand! If I have learned anything at all this past year, it is that nothing at all is laid in stone! Zip, zilch...NADA!  There is absolutely nothing that we have total control of that will be 100% guaranteed that it will go our way as planned.  {Just ask those people who did not receive their Christmas presents that were guaranteed by Dec. 24th!}

The only one who can guarantee anything is Christ and I am placing my faith in Him to deliver.  The delivery may not always arrive when I want it, but, most times it does arrive when I am in most need and that is the beauty of God's Divine Providence, isn't it?

I know {and must remind myself at times} what is most important at the end of the day. 
 If I can say that my family is in bed and healthy and happy and peaceful...then we've had a pretty great day and that is GOOD!

So...summing up...we need to be:

faithful

patient

 carefully and diligently planning because life is WAY too short to let it fly by

thoughtful and be in the moment as much as possible

Even though this has been an incredibly challenging year for us, it has been a good year overall.  We were truly blessed by many things including Jesus' continued love, guidance and buckets of grace being poured on us when we need it most!