Reflections on 2013

It's a week into the new year & I haven't been sure on what to write about this past year. When I don't think about it properly it didn't seem like such a great year for us because of some of the hard stuff that we went through, some of which I shared on the blog & others I didn't go into much detail about but then I was writing my annual letter to Sam for his birthday (we write letters to one another instead of giving a card) and realised I was reflecting a lot on the year we've had. I thought I'd share SOME of the letter I wrote to Sam here...
...after a load of mushy, lovey-dovey stuff I wrote:
(slightly edited)
2013 was definitely one of our hardest years together. We felt completely beaten and sometimes hopeless but even after everything we've been through I can already look back and see that 'it wasn't so bad'. I can see how God was always there standing right beside us, teaching us and still protecting us. It may not have felt like it most days but eventually He healed and restored us. He gave us so many good things & everything came in His perfect timing. Let's not look back on 2013 as a bad year with bad memories, let us look at it as the time He taught us, the time He grew us close together and closer to Him, the time we became to understand ourselves better, the time we realised what hopes and dreams we really had for our lives...
...This year let us promise to see God in everything and remember He is always with us. Let us remember how good life is, how privileged we are and how at the end of the day we will always have each other. 

That is only a tiny portion of the letter I wrote but it made me realise how good we've got it. Life throws all sorts of stuff at us and when we're in despair sometimes it's so easy to wallow in it and forget the good things we have and the great things that have been. 

At the end of the year we sit and look back on our calendar. We share a synced calendar on our iphones and Sam puts absolutely EVERYTHING in it. He even writes all three Sunday services in even though we only tend to go to one. It's so he can remember what every day has given us. If we do something spontaneous he goes back and writes it in too. I love that about him. We had a good evening looking back on all the great things that have happened and that totally put the year into perspective. The year we could have potentially 'written off' was really a very good year indeed.

I'll be writing our 'year in review' post this week just as a little reminder to myself of how good it's really been amongst the difficult times. I'm not too good at writing things into a private journal, there is something easier about blogging & posting (even if it's for the world to see). I tend to look back on things I write & cringe a little but when I'm writing so publicly I can think about things a little more so that's why I blog. I love clicking back on links and looking through the past. My memories and thoughts are with me wherever I go.

2014 is going to be a good year. It's going to be a great year! I can already say that because of what I've learnt this past year. I have so much to be thankful for.