Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Ready for 2016?

Are you ready for 2016?

We were asked that question, and although I said nothing, I was thinking, "I have no idea!"

Are you ready for 2016?  What about 2015?  Were you ready for that?

Our 2015 was a happy year, and rather status quo.  It turns out, I was ready for 2015, but I didn't know it at the time.  When I look back at most years, though, it seems I was not "ready" for what they would hold.

In 2014, we took our adventure around the U.S.  I most certainly wasn't ready for it.  I had no idea what we were doing!  It may go down as my favorite year of life, but I wasn't ready for it.

In 2013, E was diagnosed with diabetes.  One day, life was normal, and the next, life seemed turned upside down with all the changes that diagnosis brought.  I wasn't ready for 2013, either.

2009.  We found out we were expecting our 4th child.  The oldest was only five years old when the youngest was born in 2010.  I wasn't really ready for that year, either.  But, my daughter is one of the greatest parts of my life.  What a blessing!  :)

I have no idea if I'm ready for 2016, and we'll see what God brings to the year.  I usually feel a little sentimental and a little nervous, leaving one year and moving on to the next, without knowing what the year will bring.  But, I want to rest in whatever God has in store and live as fully as I can.

Enough speculation about 2016!  Here's what the conclusion of 2015 has looked like in photos:

 Our older kids learned to collect leaves on the tractor this fall

 Y has grown old enough to be mildly obsessed with reading, just like his older brothers and parents

I got to practice American money with our ESL students

Char has a great office in a sunbeam with a fire.  And, I get the benefit of him working from home, tending the fire, and chopping lots of firewood.  :)

 We spent a lot of this fall on the trails in the woods.


 and spent time creating new trails and finding new grapevines for swinging

Somehow in 2015, this child grew to look a lot more like a young man.  How a year changes things!

I hope you and your family are enjoying the end of 2015, and that you have a fantastic 2016!  Love from the Utter family!