Hopes for 2018!

 The year falling in the history books was a good year.  I don't take saying that lightly because there have been a few years of late that I was glad to see go.  There was nothing really remarkable about this year, in fact most of my hopes and dreams I wrote down at the beginning of last year remain unmet. But it was still good. I've learned some good lessons this year, to be content during the wait, to accept that God's path for us is always better. We've had health, we've had immense amounts of happiness, we've had abundance. Unmet expectations fall into the distance when I focus on the big picture.

Spiritually speaking this has been a great year.  We've both grown a lot in this area. We finally, after 3 years of back and forth found ourselves set on our "home" church.  We love it, us and the kids look forward to going every week. We've each made sure to prioritize time with God in study, and we've even done some studies together for the betterment of our family. In the year ahead, we would love to connect with a small group at our church and I want to dig in and challenge myself beyond just a surface level devotional but really dig into my Bible more and more.  

Our marriage is in a better place than it has been well, ever. What we once thought was a good marriage, eventually came crashing down. It forced us to grow together in uncomfortable places. This year we continued to rebuild and it has blossomed into a wonderful, intimate, wonderfully real relationship! We've prioritized quality time, letting go of many distractions and just enjoying the moments we have to talk or have fun together. I look forward to another year of good times as we continue to make "us" a priority for the betterment of our family. Our life is simple, but it is good. 

The kids continue to change at a rapid pace. This being parents thing can be challenging and scary. I am afraid every step of the way that I am messing them up, and I probably am. My kids are a wonderful blessing. We continue to grow, pray, stretch ourselves to adapt to meet each of our kids individual needs. Daily they make me see my imperfections and failures. That they are my priority. I hope to continue to teach and direct and have fun with them each day. I want to continue to value quality time with them. We've turned off the tv, unplugged the ipads and we are all better for this!  Most importantly I want them to know they are loved and valued.  

Financially we remain quite blessed and I know that.  We have really put the focus this year on being good stewards of what we have been given. Seeing areas that we have become lazy and righting some mistakes. I am proud of the work we have done to continue our Total Money Makeover. For once we are finishing the year in a really good spot and look forward to the year ahead as we work hard to pay off Peter's car (our last debt besides a mortgage) and continue to grow our retirement savings. Peter's job continues to go well and I remain very blessed that I get to stay home with my children.  

In other fun areas it was simple too. We did conquer a family room makeover on the house and some yard clean up, but we have no extravagant plans for the year ahead. We always have hopes of projects to cross off the list, but no guarantees on where we will get this coming year. I did not meet my goals with my health this past year and for the year ahead I plan to keep it really simple and just try to do the best I can with overall health and fitness for my family. 

We did getaway this year on some fun trips, numerous trips to the beach, a fun family vacation to Whistler and Eagle Crest for Christmas.  A business trip to Chicago for Peter that Malachi and I got to have a blast on.  We always look forward to travel, the year ahead we shall see where it takes us, but we are excited with possibility! 

Simple seems to be the theme of 2017. In a lot of ways it was more simple than I imagined. We like excitement. But simple was good! It allowed us to focus on our little family and building relationships. It allowed me to try some new things like skiing, hiking, and reconnecting with an old passion of playing my piano.  I leave the year behind with peace on where we currently are and that's a great spot to be in. It's okay that life took different turns than I was expecting.  The word I have been feeling on my heart as we look ahead to 2018 is "harvest". I have no idea what shape that will take or if it even means anything but I am willing to reflect on that for awhile and see what it means. I can say that learning to be content this past year has also left me in a place where I have my hands wide open for whatever God has planned for our family in 2018. I look ahead with anticipation! Happy New Year!