Christmas 13

2013 continues to be a year of growth for me (I don't think I'll ever be done growing- ugh).  I have given up on finding the joy in shopping, cooking, baking and all the other craziness that ensues during the month of December.  I'm not the person I used to be.  I keep trying.  But those things just don't do it for me anymore.

Rather...I have found joy in doing little acts of kindness for those that are hurting, donating special gifts to underprivileged kids in Nate's memory, making hot chocolate and driving around for hours looking at Christmas lights with all 7 of us in the car.  The little things.

Most of all, I have found joy in my kids.  I am continually discovering that they are different than most others.  I'm not saying that they never get out of line...HA!  But, I fully expected them to be jealous and angry when I didn't allow them to participate in any of the secret Santa gift exchanges.  To my surprise...they weren't!  They were so excited to go to the events to see what the other kids gave and received and didn't complain about not receiving gifts at all.  Instead, they helped me figure out how to do daily acts of kindness for some of the hurting families around us.  I have to say that brought me the most joy of all this Christmas!

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!  XOXO