Blessings

Another year is ending and as tradition would have it, we look over the past year and evaluate our lives...and remember our blessings.
There have been so many blessings this year. The blessing of a new little life that was added to our family was the biggest blessing in many ways. We have a boy and a girl now and he has completed our "perfect" family. He's such a sweet little guy with deep dimples and an adorable belly laugh.
Another blessing that tops the list is our little girl. She has grown so much over the course of the year. She is looking less like a baby every day and more like a little girl. She has grown by leaps and bounds in her speech from single words to full sentences and conversations. She is our little chatterbox...(and she got that straight from Daddy). She is learning to love Jesus and reminds us often of His love and healing powers...and that He is always with us. She is memorizing scripture and we are writing it on her heart as we have been instructed to do. For Christmas she got a book with Psalm 23 in it...and that is one thing we are working on now. (see picture)

Without my husband, of nine years, I would not have any of these little blessings. I am truly blessed that he is my helper and friend. We work toward a common goal and share a lot of great memories. He makes me smile when I want to wallow in self-pity and is protective of me and our children.
I am so thankful for our jobs. I started a new one this year and I am thankful to be able to continue doing what I love closer to home now. I love the people I am working with and they make my job so enjoyable. I look forward to seeing them when I go in each day.
I cannot stop without mentioning a few last things: family is such a blessing to me and I am thankful for their presence in my life. Even though distance separates some of us, we are still able to talk to each other on a regular basis and see each other every summer.
I am thankful, too, for our health and safety. And of course I am thankful for our Lord and Savior, Jesus, who lets us start each day over...brand new and He NEVER remembers our mistakes. He loves us through our failures, but refuses to leave us there. And He not only loves us, but He is so excited about each one of us. My favorite verse from the Bible sums it
up nicely,

Zephaniah 3:17 (New Century Version)


17 The Lord your God is with you;
the mighty One will save you.
He will rejoice over you.
You will rest in his love;
he will sing and be joyful about you."

I just love to think of God singing about me! And I sometimes have to remember that he is also singing about certain others....that really puts things into perspective.
In closing, I leave you with one last picture from the last few moments of 2010. Happy New Year. May we each draw closer to each other and especially to our Savior!