It's Been a Long Year

I'm sitting here in the quiet, which is something I very rarely have these days, and thinking over this past year and wondering what the new year will hold for us. Justin and I were talking earlier today about how this has been such a good and stressful year. Every joy has been paired with a lot of stress.

Pregnancy::good
Pregnancy SICK::stress

Traveling to amazing places::good
Traveling to amazing places with a sick pregnant wife and two small kids::stress

Moving home::good
Everything that moving from overseas entails::stress

Finding our home and getting to know our amazing neighbors::good
Getting settled in a new place and adjusting to life in the US again::stress (and good, too)

Isaac joining our family::GREAT!
Isaac being intolerant to dairy I was eating and not knowing why he was screaming and not sleeping::stress

(and then experimenting a few months later, per pediatrician's recommendation, and finding out the hard way that Isaac is still dairy intolerant. Lots of sleepless days and nights later, we are getting more sleep. Read: Willerton children do not sleep through the night as babies. Ever. Our Pedi told me that "most 3 month olds can sleep for 8-10 uninterrupted hours at night." I told him the Willerton boys have never been "most" babies. Then he told me they may be genetically predisposed to not sleep through the night and that their stomachs might empty faster than other babies. This is our life. As lots of more seasoned moms like to remind me, "this too shall pass.")

Dad's burn incident::STRESS, STRESS, STRESS

Reconnecting with old friends in Houston and meeting new friends::GOOD!

Justin has a job at a great company::good
This particular project::very stressful

That's kind of how our 2012 went.

I sat down at the computer tonight and pulled up a ministry blog I read looking for a great verse to start 2013 and see this:

The Lord your God carried you, as a man carries his son, in all the way you went until you came to this place. Deut. 1:31, NKJV

YES!!! That is exactly what God has done for us this year. Carried us. Throughout everything 2012 tossed our way, our God has been faithful. As He always is.

We are looking forward to 2013 with anticipation, knowing God is ever before us.

I'm also claiming this verse over our new year:

You crown the year with Your good blessings, and You leave abundance in Your wake. -Psalm 65:11, The NET Bible

Abundance. Yes, Lord!

I know at the end of 2013 we will look back and see God's abundance. No matter where the journey may take us.