It's nearly 2am...

“Time is a companion who reminds us to cherish every moment because it will never come again .”

one of my favorite pictures taken of a precious mom and daughter laughing together...enjoying each others company.

And I can't sleep.

Well I probably could IF I went to bed,and tried to sleep.

But,instead I decided to enjoy some cuddles with our Elliott,

on the couch next to the glow of the Christmas Tree.

The Christmas tree that I probably should put away tomorrow...

but don't really want to.

I can't help but be reflective of the year we have lived through...

while I see the lights on the tree reflect in the window of our livingroom.

I wonder what I would have thought,if this time last year,I had looked through the window of our lives,and seen what God would bring us through.

Would I have pulled the curtain..to block everything out?

or would I have basked in the Sunshine,watch the rain drops,and take cover when the winds came through knocking so many hopes and dreams to the ground.

It's been a whirlwind year. In every sense of the word.

But,God brings the storms.

They wash away the old,bring new life,and renew the spirit.

I want to really cherish the moments in the coming year.

Every Moment.

I can hardly believe I have a seven year old, six year old,four year old,and almost three year old.

They have all grown so much. And I don't want to miss out on our moments together.

I would hope that this time last year,if I had seen what was to come in the next year...

I would embrace it.

Praise God for it.

Worship Him through it.

Pray His Grace and Mercy upon it.

Rejoice in it.

Those are my goals for this coming year,because I know this year taught me,through so many hurts,struggles, disappointments, and tears.

It's ALL worth it.

Because to know suffering and heartache...

Is to know just a little of what Jesus went through for me.

I'm claiming these verse's for this year...

Philippians 3:7-14

⁷ But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸ What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ ⁹ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in^{a]" style="font-size: 0.75em; line-height: 0.5em; ">[a]} Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. ¹⁰ I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

¹² Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. ¹³ Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

To Cherish and Press On.

That is what I'm claiming this year. Cherish the time with my children and family,and press on through the storms that are part of being made more into the likeness of Christ.