Blah

That's how I'm mostly feeling these days. Blah.

In my Thanksgiving post I mentioned that we had gotten the flu over Turkey Day. Now add to that two different colds (one immediately following the flu and the other just a week and a half ago, that one complete with fever and everything), some random fevers with the kids, and some sort of stomach bug that Tryn and Kye had last week that I now have this week. Oh, not to mention that I couldn't walk very well for a week because of my back.

This has been the worst winter for sickness ever! I literally think someone has been sick in this house with some sort of something since Thanksgiving Day. There may have been a day or two where we were totally healthy, but I honestly can't remember those days. The irony of it all is that last winter Tryn was actually going out of the house for school 5 days a week and being exposed to many more germs than our homeschooled selves have been this year.

Last week, when I was already tired of all this sickness, I accidentally wished that we could have a few more good snowfalls before spring (and it RAINED here, like a lot, last week!). I'm retracting that wish and am now wishing for Spring to arrive ASAP. Along with that wish, I also want to clarify that I would like Spring to force Winter to take all the yucky sickness with it.

I keeping thinking, "Okay, now we've had everything. We can't catch anything else, can we?" And it seems that there are just 100's of sicknesses waiting to infest our bodies and take over the world. Ahem.

I will stop my rampage now. I will stop complaining. I'm just tired of being sick and being surrounded by sick people.

Bring on Spring! Or else, take me on vacation. :) Either one will do.

On to more positive things. Time to, hopefully, put this all this sickness behind us.

The Year and Psalm 116

I am feeling incredibly thankful and blessed these days. In light of the New Year and reflecting over the past year, I realized that this is the first year that I can remember where I spent New Year's Eve celebrating the previous year. Usually I spend New Year's Eve thinking about things I wish I could have done differently, thinking about past decisions, trying not to regret what I haven't gotten done, and just feeling anxious in general. 

This year though...this time I just feel so excited about the ways that Steve and I changed and grew last year. I feel so thankful for the things that we learned, the hard things we dealt with. I did a lot, I grew a lot, and it was a good year. It wasn't just an easy year. We had some definite hard moments, defining moments, and it still was a lot of work. However, the Lord has been good to me.  

The thing that I have realized is that in all my floundering, all my good and bad decisions, all the things I should have done differently, all the ways I could have been better, the Lord has been good to me. Despite myself the Lord has been good to me. 

I called on the Lord, and He heard my voice and answered my call. And though that doesn't make life perfect or everything bad go away, it sure makes the journey a lot more manageable. Exciting even. I can see the ways that God has worked in our lives this year and I can confidently say that good things really do come from God.

The Lord has been good to me.

Psalm 116

¹ I love the Lord, for he heard my voice;
    he heard my cry for mercy.
² Because he turned his ear to me,
    I will call on him as long as I live.

³ The cords of death entangled me,
    the anguish of the grave came over me;
    I was overcome by distress and sorrow.
⁴ Then I called on the name of the Lord:
    “Lord, save me!”

⁵ The Lord is gracious and righteous;
    our God is full of compassion.
⁶ The Lord protects the unwary;
    when I was brought low, he saved me.

⁷ Return to your rest, my soul,
    for the Lord has been good to you.

My Year...

I love to do this at the end of every year, it's my favorite New Year's tradition. It's maybe actually my only New Year's tradition :) The reason I FB all the funny things that my kids say during the year is so that I have them written down somewhere. It's easier to organize them into a compilation at the end of the year this way. Although, "My Year in Status" app has not been updated since last year and it is still extremely tedious. But totally worth it because someday the kids will be able to read these. And for now I will read these. And laugh, laugh, and laugh some more. I love my kids and our life together. :)