I can vividly remember this time last year. The week between Christmas and New Years where the days just blur together. I find myself crawling into somewhat of a black hole surrounded by reflection and soaking up the last few days of another year. With kids, time never seems to stop either, and I find myself more sentimental than ever as time quickly passes. I wanted to write a post reflecting on this past year and share my thoughts on the year ahead. Because even though we’ve all felt isolated and distanced, I’ve felt this to be the biggest growth year of my life. Here are a few things I experienced and learned:
- Change is inevitable This year is not the first time I’ve experienced change; however, it’s the first time I’ve had to change my routine and lifestyle where it was completely rocked and I had to juggle the roles of being a wife, mom, and co-worker during the same time of day all day. Embrace the change and take it one day at a time. The one day, one hour, one minute helps you to see something good in each day versus feeling like each day is a complete failure.
- Find a simple thing that makes you happy to set the tone for the day. For me this was my coffee and my devotional in the morning (before the kids got up) and I noticed a major difference in my attitude.
- Put your family first and love them hard. I found myself at times not doing this and I was suffering because of it. Once I realized it and changed my focus I instantly felt happier.
- Get dressed and ready – it will make you feel like you’re able to tackle the day on a whole other level.
- GRACE – you’re enough and one bad day doesn’t equate to a bad week as long as you don’t let it.
This last year was filled with so many great moments and blessings. Without the pandemic, I wouldn’t have gotten to experience Pierce growing up through his first year of life and seeing the moments first hand like crawling and walking. Bryan and I have learned to work together more intimately. And trust me, it wasn’t because we are always on the same page. It took a lot of arguing, talking, apologizing to finally feel like we were in a good spot. And then Emery, oh that girl. She has caused me to grow more as a person and Mom this year than I ever thought possible. She is our sweet, sassy and strong willed girl who is going to move mountains. Until she is old enough to move those mountains – she is going to test me and I’m going to continue to pray God gives me the wisdom to parent her.
What are you most looking forward to in 2021? Is it working out more often, reading more or spending less? Those are on my lists of things to try and make habits of, because a resolution isn’t a resolution until you make it a habit, right?!
Happy New Year, and thanks for joining me on this journey!
xo Lauren
