it's been a good christmas season.
sure we've had our hiccups like in years past, but nothing that compares to those years. like the year that bryce had to work until almost 8pm on christmas eve. that one was a doozy. bryce and i have been reflecting on those rough times and giving thanks that we made it through those bumps and made the best of our christmases together. and it almost brings tears to our eyes remembering the year when bryce's company that he works for got bought out in december and turned his already long days into 17 hour work days the weeks preceding christmas, not to mention revoking their expected week paid holiday vacation and barely giving them christmas eve off. it was a very difficult christmas for us, not to mention lonely.
and then there was last year... we were so grateful to be able to have a sweet newborn baby in our presence during that season and wanted more than anything to soak her and the season in. but instead we were struggling to make ends meet after bryce's work had cut his pay completely in half while still trying to provide a good christmas for our girls. and as if that wasn't enough, the week leading up to christmas was spent with bryce and i completely wiped out with the flu. we spent christmas eve and the days preceding with both of us shivering under blankets with high fevers from the flu. i used any energy i had left to tend to my newborn baby and only got out of bed to feed and change her. our girls ran amuck in our house, made messes everywhere and neither bryce nor i could do anything.... we were that sick. but somehow by christmas morning, we had mustered up the energy to wrap all the presents and get the house in order... somehow, together, we did.
we have stuck together through everything. when all around us seemed to crumble, when everything seemed to be against us we held tight and got through it together, and found the blessings and tender mercies that were sent to us from above.
my heart is so full this christmas season.
sure it's a little easier since we're not struck down with the flu or feeling like a single mom, or dealing with long work days but we still have our struggles here and there with other trials and mishaps, but i can't help but recognize the calm and peace we have felt this year. making it through those rough patches has increased my gratitude of the many blessings we do have in our lives... gratitude that i might not have experienced had i not felt the lows in our lives. those struggles have made us who we are and more importantly strengthened us. we've been through much and we made it... made the best of it. and while things are not necessarily perfect this year, it feels like they are, because i am with my family and get to spend this beautiful holiday with those whom i love most... and for that i am so lucky and so grateful.
merry christmas friends.
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