As I sit here, it's almost the end of January, I'm typing my first blog post of 2014, and I have to tell you that this month has been one of restoration for my soul. I'm not really sure what caused it or why it happened, but God has been moving in my heart, bringing thankfulness, joy, and contentment.
The past four months were hard. My heart hurt, I lacked joy, I cried a lot, I couldn't think straight, and I learned a lot about grief. Not the kind of grief from the loss of a loved one, but grief over loss of dreams, living with an unexpected reality, and challenges that I didn't sign up for. Grief affects not just our heart and emotions, but the day-to-day activities that need to get done. I plan to carve some time to write this out in the coming weeks, but for now I can simply share with you that God's grace and strength are powerful. He walks with us through challenges, never withholding His grace. Sorrow may last for a night, but His joy does come.
We had a whirlwind month in December with traveling, family visits for the holidays, home for Christmas, stomach bug for 2/3 of our household, and somewhere in there our oldest turned five, our second born is now four, our little guy is crawling, and our baby girl is six months old.
Life just goes on.
Time doesn't stand still for us to capture all of the moments we so desperately want to hold near. It keeps ticking and we hold on to grace, we pour out love, and we seek to be near to the heart of God.
Love you! :-)
ReplyDeleteLauren, I'm sad/happy to read this post. Happy that you're in a better place now though. :) For what it's worth I spent almost all of Olivia's birthday and the day after {aka Tuesday and Wednesday this week} bawling my eyes out. Chris wasn't sad in the slightest and he gave me lots of hugs but I was just so SAD for how sad we were last year at this time. A whole lotta emotions came flooding back to me. It was hard. Gosh I'm crying just typing this! Thankful for a good God Who loves us a whole lot...and for the healing that moving forward in life often brings. *hugs!*
ReplyDeleteI'm so thankful that you've had a good month of restoration and refreshment for your soul! These pictures all make me smile, and then I get a little bit sad thinking about how far away you will all be later this year! The kids are growing up so fast! That one picture of Isabella holding up her present - WOW she looks old!
ReplyDeleteThankful to read these words, thankful for healing and joy. God is good.
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