I'm more hopeful for this next year than I think I have ever been. I feel like I'm finally beginning to grow up and see real change in myself. Life is not perfect, but I'm more at peace than I've ever been. Last year a lot of BIG things happened. I got married, went on an amazing honeymoon, changed jobs, changed my name, moved to a new house, cut my hair off...you get the point. :) I don't have any major plans for this next year(yet), but I'm starting to appreciate the amazing beauty in the simple things. Like being married and living with my sweet husband. The moment when I'm cooking dinner as he plays guitar and sings in the living room. The mornings we get to sit down for 5 minutes and eat breakfast before rushing out the door. Putting up our first Christmas tree. Dissolving into laughter at my klutziness or his made up words (he has his own dictionary). Laughing until we cry watching stupid youtube videos. Falling into bed too exhausted to talk, but grabbing his hand and smiling because he's there. These things fill my heart to the point I think it can't stretch any more. Simple moments that at one point in my life I thought I'd never have. And we are just at the beginning. All that on top of the wonderful moments I've had with friends and family. I think God is showing me that life isn't about the big things, or things at all actually. It's about the people around you, the time you have, and the love you feel. It's about memories, traditions, and simple every day life. It's the good and the bad, the hard and the easy. And it's all about how you look at it. That is truly the key. It is so easy to get insanely busy and to miss so much. We get so focused on the big picture that we forget what is here and now. We rush everywhere, spend too much time in front of screens, stay too stressed, and never have enough time. So my goal for this year is to change my focus. To slow down, stop sweating the small stuff, stop filling every minute of every day with something I have to do. I want to become more thankful, more compassionate, more thoughtful of others. To pray more, believe more, trust more, and see more. These are desires I want to develop as a lifestyle, not just for this year. It's so easy to say and then move on and forget. So we're starting a new tradition this year. We're taking this vase:
and turning it into our "All Things Good" holder. Over the next year Skyler and I are going to write down things we are thankful for, answered prayers, special memories, and any other good thing we want to remember. Next NYE we will go through it to remember all the great things that happened. Looking back on my life right now I could fill so many vases. I'm excited to actually have things written down and pray that it will change our focus and help us live our lives differently.
For those of you that took the time to read to the end...I hope it encouraged you in some way and didn't bore you to tears. :) I'll end this short book with a verse that gives me so much hope.
"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland" Isaiah 43:18-19
HAPPY 2014!
