Welcome 2017!

I know it’s been a while since I posted, so don’t fall over in a dead faint! But on this first day of 2017, I am feeling very grateful. Not only did the Lord bring us through a year of upheaval in 2016, He has given us much to look forward to in 2017!

Here are the things we already know 2017 will bring:

• My 50th birthday. I still can’t quite wrap my mind around that. I don’t feel 50. But there it is.
• Our last college graduation! Now that is something to celebrate! I can’t believe all three have made it through. And even more, I look back in amazement at how the Lord provided, especially because Jeff transitioned to a job at a non-profit firm just as the first of our three graduated from high school!
• Our 30th wedding anniversary. Like my birthday, it’s hard to believe the number, but just as with the graduation, I look back and count all the time the Lord has brought us through and grown us in our love for Him and for each other.
• Our first family weddings!!!! Yes, weddings with an “s.” This one really makes me happy! Not only will the first (though youngest!) of our three marry a beautiful, godly girl, but my nephew, who is also my son’s best friend, will marry his as well! (They both got engaged the week before Christmas!) Not only will it be fun to celebrate both couples, but I love that my sister and I will tread the path of mother of the groom, then mother-in-law together.
• My dad will turn 80. Another big birthday, and one my daddy has been looking forward to for several years because the mountain where he likes to ski gives free lift tickets for 80 and over.

I’m sure 2017 will also hold some surprises for our family–both good things and hard things. But for right now, I’m cherishing the anticipation of the events already on our schedule, trusting the Lord to work in the details and choosing the find joy in the process.

I hope your 2017 is looking good from the vantage point of day one, as well. But even if it isn’t, know that the Lord has it all in His loving hands. For while right now I can’t see things coming that will be difficult or frustrating or hard, you can believe that there will be things coming that are good and healing and right. Aren’t you thankful we serve a God who is trustworthy and true, who sees and knows all the days ahead of us in 2017 and beyond?