Feeling more positive

I know my last few blogs have been pretty negative. We have had some trials but today I have decided that its time to focus on the good stuff. Right now I am listening to Christmas music and I have been hanging ornaments on the tree this morning. I got the tree up last weekend and got new lights for it and got those up last weekend as well. I really like the new lights. I have both multi-colored lights, and white lights. I know a lot of people like to stick with just white or just the multi-color but I have always enjoyed both. The colored lights have 16 different settings. They can do all kinds of different things. The white lights came with bells around each light and they play Christmas music that sounds like a bell choir. I mostly keep the music function off but its nice to have it on occasionally.

All week I just enjoyed the lights without the ornaments. While hanging ornaments today Each time I pulled out an ornament I remembered when I got it, or who gave it to me. Some are as old as me from my first Christmas as a baby. Many I got as gifts at different points in my life. Some were handmade by a friend. Many were the ones I went out and bought for my first tree after I moved away from my parents.

I'm so glad I have held onto so many of these ornaments. I can reflect on all the time that has passed and all the blessings along the way and the new blessings this year. Our biggest blessing this year is of course has been the birth of our 2nd child Daniel. Another blessing is that most of this year I have been strictly a stay at home mom. I quit babysitting full-time in February. This time last year I was watching two kids from 6am until 7:30 pm each day. I am so grateful I haven't had to do that or any other kind of a job since then. I have babysat for a friend a couple times recently but its much shorter hours and only has been an occasional thing so it has been a lot nicer. Since last year I have also made some new friends and re-connected with some old ones. I remember this time last year feeling like I didn't have a lot of friends I could hang out with. I occasionally met-up with old friends from when I used to work at the regional center for lunch, but that was about it. This year I feel so blessed to have so many people I feel like I can talk to and share life with. I made the decision last year that I had to be more outgoing even though I am naturally shy and it felt risky putting myself out there more but it really paid off. Life feels so much more full when you have a lot of people to share it with. I have made friends at church and MOPS has made a dramatic difference in the amount of people I have in my life that I can call a friend. These friendships have even spread to my husband. We are now attending a weekly bible study for couples and its the first thing we have done with other couples since our good friends moved to New York a couple of years ago so even if Doug isn't entirely into the actual bible study it is really nice to be there together and to be developing friendships with other couples.

Even this blog has been a blessing because I have been able to read the blogs of some of my friends and I feel like I have learned a lot from them sharing their experiences and reflections. I added links to them if you would like to check them out. My friend Julie recently blogged about snowflakes and how they start out in the atmosphere as a flat hexagon and as they fall to earth they collide and take shape and each one is uniquely formed by the collisions and bumps on the way down. She talked about how the process is similar to how God shapes us by all the bumps and trials in our life and it was just what I needed to hear at the moment. Check out her blog for the better explanation of that, as I know I am misquoting her.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and continue to enjoy the Christmas Season!