On Christmas and the End of the Year

So far my Christmas vacation has been one fat trip down memory lane.

It started w/ a ‘friend family’ Christmas on the 23rd. We played Cranium (of course)

and decorated gingerbread houses and talked about all the things we have in common, including the last decade of friendship. (Am I really old enough to have been friends with someone for 10+ years?)

my house 🙂

Jennifer’s house:

Carrie’s house:

Tony and Andy’s house:

And then I went to work on 2 hours of sleep.

Then Christmas day we watched family home videos.

And I spent the next two days cleaning out our attic w/ my mom and sorting through years of school assignments and toys. And we found this:

And when I finally got tired of being nostalgic I met up with friends for soft pretzels and driving in slow motion in the snow. Because it looks like this:

And because my dear brother Troy decided to roll/ total his car last night.  And miraculously, (I mean, really, a miracle) he’s fine.

And now it’s the very end of 2012. The year I graduated. And moved. And grew up just a little bit more.  But most of all, it’s been a year of learning a lot about God and what my life looks like with Him in charge.

And since we are all friends on here I’ve decided to share this (which I journaled earlier this winter) with you- because it perfectly sums up one of the lessons I’ve been learning this year:

“I’m struggling through real life things. Like being brave. And making friends. And being patient. And doing homework. And realizing that God is in control- not me. So I’m learning things. And the thing I’m learning the most is that I can do nothing. I can’t keep myself safe. I cannot motivate myself. I know that I can’t MAKE myself succeed at anything. At all. I can put in the time. I can organize and plan and hope and aspire and make do. But in the end. The very end when all the answers come. It was actually Christ doing all these things. Not me. And I know it. I know it like I know that I don’t make rainbows. or music. or time stand still. I KNOW that God is making my life work.”

And that’s what my year has been and what my life is becoming.  All in one post. You’re welcome. Happy Christmas and Merry New Years!