#1...What the heck is a Hatchimal and how did it get to be so popular? The distant cousin of Tickle Me Elmo, Furby and the Cabbage Patch Kids, the Hatchimals emerged this year as the must-have toy of the season and busily ruined Christmas for millions of kids everywhere. The big excitement is that when you buy one you don't know what you're getting until it hatches. And then it hatches. After that I think it solves world hunger or cures cancer or something. No? Apparently it's just another electronic toy. Hmmm....
#2...Why do everyone's Christmas cards photos look like they spend so much time laughing together in the woods? And how do you get your hair to stay so nice when you're outside? And how can you hike in those clothes? For all the time everyone apparently spends outdoors together Target ought to be a lot less crowded. You're not fooling anyone, you know, but you do look good! Sun-kissed and full of fresh air and amazing. So keep 'em coming.
#3...Can we stop saying "tweens"? It's the new phrase to describe the period of adolescence right before the teen years, when kids aren't old enough to be really snarky and moody yet but are too old to be spanked. I feel like most stages in life with kids are "tween" years, waiting for one difficult phase to end so you can enter another so let's just call them all what they are. HARD. Delightful, but hard. :)
#4...2016 was not a tragedy. There I said it. Full of ups and downs, yes. But not a tragedy. I believe it because I believe God reigns over all of it. CS Lewis wrote, "We believe the sun is in the sky at midday not because we can clearly see the sun (in fact, we cannot) but because we can see everything else."
My prayer for the new year ahead is that we deal with the pains of the past and the unknowns of the future with an ever-fervent trust in the Lord and an ever-fixed eye on His hand. Our faith does not always afford us a look at the bigger picture, but we can be assured that the pieces we do see are within His control.
"You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You." Isaiah 26:3.
Stay the course, dear friends. We cannot clearly see the sun at midday, but oh what a thing is its light, shining on the pieces around us! If you're spending these final days of the year staring back into the shadows then you are missing the point. God is everywhere.
Happy New Year!!
xoxo....Kelly
Kevin and me, New Year's Eve 2005.
Last New Year's without babies.
The "tween years" if you will.
