the title sums it up. really truly does. my heart is full. i'm excessively blessed. and this season of Christmas and wrapping up of 2016 has me extra aware this year, especially as i'm a few months into an exercise of counting my blessings daily. thanks to Ann Voskamp's One Thousand Gifts....i'm a lot late on reading this book, but i really feel like the timing in my life was perfect. i can't say enough about the truths contained in those pages, and i'm finding it a process of slow transformation that has personally been so very necessary and beneficial.
anyway, there is much to say about this season of Jesus' birth and all the significance it carries in my life. there has been personal family time, all eight of us home together under one roof again. how i loved picking my daughter up. i love her school stories. love her excitement about her nursing journey. love that God is proving faithful in helping me to let go more and let her become. love the peace He gives me in this challenging process. love the ways He is shaping her and stretching her and equipping her. love her sparkle. love her. simple as that, i guess....
in there as well, the week before Christmas, was a wonderful, somewhat spontaneous visit from Jhonny. i blogged about Jhonny last January when he came to Canada from Sweden and we officially met in person for the first time. i've since learned there are two ways his name is sometimes written, but the way i typed it above is actually correct...anyway, this treat of a second visit from him in a year was short, but so very sweet. we all love this guy and he is such a fun and warm addition to our family while he is here. the boys loved having Jhonny attend their Christmas assembly at school. he accompanied me to pick up Joelle in Hamilton (more travel time~ he's a trooper!). we enjoyed Thai cuisine together at a charming restaurant in Ancaster. we shopped (H&M!) and he purchased gifts for his family in Bolivia. we drank espresso together (mine sweetened!) and enjoyed Swedish treats and conversation and ice skating and hockey and time shared with our extended families getting to know him more. it was a gift. so fun. such a highlight of 2016. very thankful.
Jhonny~ if you are reading this~ you are always welcome to visit and it is our pleasure to host you. you feel like "one of the family" and that is a gift we cherish. blessings to you as you continue your vacation with family back home.
Christmas, a gift of time off and memories shared with extended family. a gift of treats and all my favourite foods and waking up without an alarm clock and my sweet husband home for the whole week and my kids enjoying new treasures and board games together and carols all day and cozy new socks and it's just a lot to take in when you put it all together. grateful beyond words. so, off to enjoy the crew today, but it's been good to check in and pause and jot down my reasons for this very full heart....
blessings to you and yours as you wrap up 2016 with those you love!
