It was a doozy

I'm not going to recap the year. Living it was exhausting enough. I don't really want to go through it again in condensed form. There was a lot of good; a lot of bad; a lot of blessings; a lot of tests. Just a lot.

As a good friend put it, "Its been a long damn year."

I remember when Doug was in grad school and working and I had a young toddler and was pregnant with another and we scrimped to get by in oh-so-expensive SLO, I said on more than one occasion, "I'll be so glad when we get past this point in life and things slow down and we have a normal schedule and we aren't so broke." Ha. Oh, my sweet, innocent naivete!

Each year since then has been successively busier, crazier and more fully loaded (we are slowly making progress on that whole "not so broke" thing). Don't get me wrong, the last four years have been fabulous, but they've been challenging. Both Doug and myself have poured a lot of blood, sweat and tears into his job and all the relationships that go along with it. There have been demanding callings, other jobs, school, and drama--family drama, friend drama, ward drama. Drama, drama, drama. I wish I could dismiss it as melodrama, but I'm afraid much of it has been things that matter. Big things. Things that aren't easily fixed.

And yet, this year, probably more than any other, has been full of huge blessings and many tender mercies--little moments that have reminded us that we are loved and watched over and attended to. Our friends have never been kinder to us, and many of our loved ones have never understood us better. I am reminded that the Lord maintains a balance in our lives. As the number of challenges and trials grows, the number of blessings and mercies grows as well. We often tell ourselves that where much is given, much is required. Perhaps we'd do better to remind ourselves more often that where much is required, much is given.

So very much is given.

May you find that 2010 brings you many blessings to count, treasure and find joy in.