And onward we went

It's impossible to celebrate the end of the year without thinking about all the year has held.  While at a friend's house for dinner I was glancing through their end of year picture book and could not believe some of the events that had taken place in this calendar year.  Besides the fact that this time last year I was scarcely even on the official friend list with this sweet woman, we had made it into their family memory book because of the friendship that has bloomed between our boys and now our families in such a short time.  Close behind that sentimental thought was the shocking question of "Was Connor really in Kindergarten just a few short months ago?" after seeing a picture of the two boys at their 'graduation' program.  Oh time and it's ever present annoying tendency to creep and fly simultaneously.

  When I chose the word "onward" as my focus for 2015 I had no clue how far God would take it.  I knew that "Onward doesn't mean quickly.  It doesn't mean crossing the finish line first or even finding the finish line anytime soon.  It means not quitting and not giving up, whether sprinting or struggling for every step, there is no halt there is only moving forward" and it didn't cease to be true throughout the year.  However, like all things, nothing ever happens how you expect or plan and at the time I didn't expect to have as many things end as I did begin.  In hindsight it makes perfect sense, more often than not you have to give up one thing for another, say goodbye before you can say hello, close a door before opening a window.   

This year we found a new home we love in a neighborhood we love, built many new friendships, and strengthened many old ones.  A new occupational journey was placed in my heart as well as the desire to begin the process to adopt from the Foster care system, which I will be sharing about soon.  We went to Romania for the second time and were even able to share that experience with my younger brother.  We grew, each of us, in ways I still don't notice and have focused as a family to be more kind, helpful and thankful in all aspects of our lives.

 There were just as many downs as ups, our current church situation being the hardest of all, but I continue to see God's hand in absolutely everything and that alone is pretty awesome.  On top of that I realized/was devinely reminded that the balance scale of life at this moment is heavily tipped towards  the peaceful, smooth and exciting instead of the hard, emotional and unsure like it was just a couple short years ago.  Almost all of which can be contributed to the outlook that comes from a more trusting heart grown through experience and wisdom therefore definitely worth mentioning and giving glory to God about.

Moving onward was equal parts healing and rejuvenating and a to-do that I am surprisingly not sad about never being able to permanently check off my list.