The blog has been neglected for over 5 months because life happened. I have been attempting to juggle way too many things, and something had to drop.

I figured the last day of the year warranted breaking the silence.
Since my last post, I was hired on full time at our elementary school as an assistant in Prek, and I so love our littles.
I also became a college student again (against my will, but some things are just necessary).
We had a 4-day hospital stay, have been back and forth to doctors and chiropractors trying to fix other issues, another 3-day hospital stay, and a trip to the ER before finally getting some answers. My poor husband has had a time with health issues these past several months.
Also, apparently, dislocation of the collarbone is a thing, and it isn’t something you want to do. Trust me on this.

This by no means exhausts the goings-on of our life since July, but there’s a quick recap. It’s been crazy. And exhausting. And stressful. And crazy.

Yesterday, I reread my end-of-the-year post from last year and had to chuckle. In a way, things are ending the way I imagined they would, but in another way, they aren’t.

We aren’t ringing in the new year alone in our quiet home, but are getting to spend it halfway across the country with some of our favorite people in their less quiet home.
Nothing has changed in our world as far as children go, except it would seem an even greater miracle at this point.

One thing, however, has changed.
Me.
I’ve changed.
I can feel it deep down inside.
I’m more settled and calm.
I’ve accepted a truth I’ve fought hard against for a long time, and with acceptance came peace.

I’m reminded of this poem by Amy Carmichael:

In Acceptance Lieth Peace

He said, ‘I will forget the dying faces;
The empty places,
They shall be filled again.
O voices moaning deep within me, cease.’
But vain the word; vain, vain:
Not in forgetting lieth peace.

He said, ‘I will crowd action upon action,
The strife of faction
Shall stir me and sustain;
O tears that drown the fire of manhood cease.’
But vain the word; vain, vain:
Not in endeavour lieth peace.

He said, ‘I will withdraw me and be quiet,
Why meddle in life’s riot?
Shut be my door to pain.
Desire, thou dost befool me, thou shalt cease.’
But vain the word; vain, vain:
Not in aloofness lieth peace.

He said, ‘I will submit; I am defeated.
God hath depleted
My life of its rich gain.
O futile murmurings, why will ye not cease?’
But vain the word; vain, vain:
Not in submission lieth peace.

He said, ‘I will accept the breaking sorrow
Which God tomorrow
Will to His son explain.’
Then did the turmoil deep within me cease.
Not vain the word, not vain;
For in acceptance lieth peace.

I feel as though I’ve covered this full spectrum of emotions this year. I’ve learned that submission and acceptance are 2 different things and have 2 different results.
Submission is great, and we should be submitted to what God is doing in our lives, but when we accept it as the God who doeth all things well choosing our lives to be the way they are, that’s when the peace comes.

One thing that has stuck out to me this year is an article I read a few months ago about how we tend to praise God for His goodness when things work out the way we want them to or think they should…
But what about the other times?
When the person we love isn’t healed?
When we lose the job?
When nothing seems to be going right?
When we never hear the “Yes!” for which we are so desperately listening?
What then?
Is God any less good?

The answer is: of course not.
No matter what happens, He is still good.

Guys, I’m going to be honest.
Sure, there were good and happy times this year…but there were a lot of times and a lot of ways in which this year stunk.
I, for one, am glad to see it go.
But God is still good.

I am hoping and praying for certain specific things for 2016, but sitting here at the end of 2015, I can safely say that if nothing works out the way I hope it does, He is and will ever be good.

He tells us in Malachi: “I am the LORD, I change not;”

It doesn’t get much plainer than that. He has always been good, and He will always be good.
This year, next year…it doesn’t matter.
He is faithful to a thousand generations, and that includes mine and yours.

God may have worked amazing miracles in your life over these past 12 months, or you may not be able to look back over the year with fondness.
Whatever the case may be, it doesn’t change who God is…and He is still good.

This is the song that has been rolling around in my heart for a while and it seems to sum up the ending of my year and hope for the next.

God’s Still Faithful

When the mountain looks so tall,
Your faith seems so small,
Your back’s against a wall,
There’s a God above
Who’s looking down in love.
He’s always been faithful and true.
He is a Friend who sticks closer than a brother,
And He knows your pain like no other
So don’t be afraid, step out in faith and
Call on His name.

God’s still faithful in the midst of it all,
He’s faithful.
When the earth beneath your feet
Gives way in defeat,
He’s faithful.
When it’s just too much for you
And you don’t know what to do,
God will carry you through.
When hope is all gone and you’ve no strength to hold on,
God’s still faithful.

Faithful is He when your faith is weak
You’ve lost your peace.
When your whole world is shattered and
Nothing else matters
Life just doesn’t mean anything,
God’s a present help
In your time of troubles
When everything around you has crumbled.
He will never change, He will remain forever the same.

God’s still faithful in the midst of it all
He’s faithful.
When the earth beneath your feet
Gives way in defeat,
He’s faithful.
When it’s just too much for you
And you don’t know what to do,
God will carry you through.
When hope is all gone and you’ve no strength to hold on,
God’s still faithful.

He promised to abide faithful, even we do not.
There’s hope for 2016 because God is still faithful and good….no matter what.

Happy New Year, my friends.