I can with all honesty say that 2016 has been the best year of my life. Obviously, I was blessed with my fourth and final child, my precious Asher Jude. He has been the most perfect addition to this crazy family of mine. We haven’t missed a beat with our go with the flow little guy. He has brought a new kind of laughter and fun to our household. He has created relationships that weren’t there before as Owen and Evan became big brothers. It’s been wonderful to be a witness to it.

Personally, I have grown a great deal spiritually (also physically-I housed a human for the first 4 months of this year). I am finally beginning to understand and fully live that “if God is for us, who can be against us” (Romans 8:31). I have become more secure in my faith and believing that God is in control of the many different facets of my life. 

I have found a great deal of peace in that. This isn’t to say this year hasn’t had struggles. It most certainly has. I have had a lot of transition in my life and have “lost” some friendships that I thought would never fade away. I struggled for awhile before accepting that things change. 

With that I get to my New Years resolution. This will be the year of positivity! I will try to look on the bright side of every situation. I will try and avoid seeing my cup as half empty. Also, I will stand up to negativity. You all have been warned! If the only time I hear from someone is because they want to gossip or they want to go on and on about how miserable things are in their job/marriage/with their kids I plan to politely remove myself from the conversation. 

This doesn’t mean I won’t be there when someone needs an ear or a shoulder to cry on. I have friends who I can turn to in times of stress, but I also turn to them to share the good in my life. The beauty of these friendships is that they are there to sing God’s praises and rejoice with me in times of elation, without being envious of what I may have been granted that they weren’t. They are also there to pray with me and be present in times of stress and I will do the same for them. These are the people I’m choosing to spend my time and my energy on. The people who make me a better me because it’s hard to get there alone, that’s who I’m choosing in 2017.

I turn 30 this year. I go into 2017 knowing my first baby will start middle school and my last baby will turn one. I go into 2017 already looking forward to several different and exciting events. I go into 2017 with a dynamic duo who are slowly coming into their own and needing the crutch of their twin less and less. I go into 2017 with a husband who is sarcastic, supportive, messy, fashionably challenged, but he loves me. He loves me in the way the story books won’t tell you about. It’s the kind of love a person needs to face everyday challenges, big and small. It’s the simple gestures and his faith in God that tell me that our life will only get better, even when it’s hard. I go into 2017 with a huge smile on my face because I have searched for joy in 2016 and will continue to find it in the coming year.

Make 2017 your best year yet by always seeing your glass half full.

From my family to yours, Happy New Year!

✌🏻and ❤️,

Erin