To say that this past year has been challenging would be an understatement.
Short version: our hot water heater flooded the house and we spent half a year dealing with unreliable contractors and repair folks, our newborn baby girl cried and cried and cried and rarely slept for the first few months of her life, my job was eliminated while I was out on maternity leave, I’ve dealt with rejection (after rejection, after rejection, after rejection) during the job search, and to top it all off, my car died a week before Christmas; sadly, the 4Runner suddenly became the NoMoreRunner. Seriously, the engine just blew up with no clear explanation as to how or why. You know it’s bad when the mechanic says, “we’ve never seen anything like this happen before.”
There she goes… off to see ya never never land.
Talk about a cherry on top of the worst year ever.
Does anyone know if they make a yearly version of this stuff? Asking for a friend.
Around the start of the new year, I was feeling really discouraged and wondering when (and if) things would start to get better. I said to my husband, “I really hope 2018 is a whole lot better than 2017.” Aaron looked at me and asked why. I gave him a blank stare. And then proceeded to recap all the events listed above, and added “is there anything else you’d like to include on that list?” He laughed and said, “Yeah, it sucked to go through it. But we ended up with a bunch of nice upgrades to our house, God blessed us with a beautiful baby girl, a new job opportunity will come along that will make you happier and more fulfilled, and you get to enjoy some time at home with our kids in the meantime. Oh, and we got a new car. I’d say we had a pretty good year.”
First of all, reality check. Second of all, have I mentioned how wonderful my husband is? Sometimes all it takes is a fresh, Godly perspective to realize that maybe things aren’t as bad as they seem.
This past year has been filled with challenges I never imagined having to walk through. But I realized that because of it, my faith was reaffirmed, my marriage was strengthened, my kids got more attention from me, and my family and friends stepped in and provided the encouragement I needed at exactly the right time.
Yes, it is all about perspective.
Having perspective is evidence of spiritual maturity, and it enables us to handle whatever comes our way in life. Perspective was one of the reasons Jesus was able to endure the cross. He looked past the immediate pain to the long term joy that was set before him.
This year, I’m challenging myself to start seeing things from God’s point of view instead of my own limited perspective.
What are your goals for the new year, and how do you plan to accomplish them?
-Amy ❤
