At Year End

The year is almost over, and while I don't intend to play catch-up for the last month, I will offer a few final comments.

"It was all worth it in the end" seems an apt summary of my year.  The first five months of 2013, I felt lousy with early pregnancy nausea, but knowing that we were welcoming another precious member into our family, made it all worth it.  My patience was rewarded by letting Maren arrive on her timetable--twelve days late--perfectly healthy and beautiful.  Our (seemingly endless) home search in a seller's market was frustrating, but our patience and persistence, and many, many prayers were rewarded by finding a house that has turned out to be practically perfect for us.  The weeks of construction dust and chaos and long tiring days with a scrub brush and paint scraper were worth it when we finally moved into a house re-made.  Ezra's "new everything" adjustments and extreme baby jealousy behaviors were all worth it when we saw his positive progress in the end.  Hopefully, in these various challenges, I was able to enjoy the journey, as well as the final result.  It was certainly a year of putting my trust and faith in God.