We Are Out 2014

  In a few hours we will say good-bye to 2014. My initial thoughts are, "Good riddance!" But I have to take a step back and remember that there was a lot of good to this year. Isn't that the way of us humans - to dwell on the bad and negative? This year has been a lot like a roller coaster ride.  It has had its ups and downs, unexpected curves, abrupt stops, and thrills and nauseousness.
  We have spent our first full year in our "new" home (not sure how long I can keep calling it new). We have been financially better off than I would have ever dreamed with the new and improved - ha - house payment. Our children have grown and have offered us much love, laughter, and help. We have hosted a small group that has been a highlight of the year. We have gotten to know people and grown to love them as our own.
   But...this year as been such a year of loss. We have dealt with death, both expected and completely unexpected.  We have coped with divorce and estrangement (not in our personal home, just to clarify). There have many days when I wanted to run away because my son is the most strong-willed child God ever saw fit to knit together in the womb. There have been times when the battle and the exhaustion of that has worn me down more than I will ever admit or even care to acknowledge.  There have been disappointments that can only be described as a kick in the gut. I have felt things this year that I didn't know was possible. When people you love are hurting and you can't do anything to help, you experience a level of frustration and helplessness that is indescribable.  And that hurt has, at times, made me want to vomit.
   I am keenly aware that it could always be worse. So I am not necessary saying that I can't wait for 2015. We don't know what is to come. And we definitely didn't see all that 2014 had to offer coming at us this time last year. I just pray that we will leave 2014 wiser than we found it. I hope that we have found a bigger heart with which to love. I want to take some lessons into the new year. To be grateful for what we have. To find hope when it looks like hope is gone. To wrap up the people we love and cherish them because you just never know.
   So in a little while, say "Happy New Year!," love on some people, and enter into 2015 knowing that it will bring some surprises and disappointments.  Some gifts and some questions. We have the opportunity to begin a new year with a new hope.
   Have a wonderful beginning to a brand new year!