Giving Thanks.

Next Year.

Next year at this time I might be a mom. It's a weird concept to grasp now days. It's always been in a few years or maybe in a couple. But today it's next year.

Holidays always make me think about where we will be next year. I remember when I was single and another year would come and go and I had no one with me at Christmas. And I would think, "Maybe next year I'll have a boyfriend or a fiance or even a husband." But then another year would come and go and it seemed as if other people's lives were progressing and mine was the same. Then suddenly, I had a friend who, for a very short time, was a boyfriend then quickly a fiance and then what seemed like forever (11 months) finally a husband. And suddenly it felt so normal.

As I look to next year and the reality that our paperwork is almost finished and ready to be sent over to that big ol' country in Africa, I am thankful that I get one more year of quiet with my husband. That we get to go to NYC tomorrow and hang with family then down to southern edge of New Jersey to spend time with more family. I'm thankful that we can get a Christmas tree this weekend and I can turn on my favorite Pandora Christmas station and decorate all afternoon while Martin watches football and falls asleep. I'm thankful that we can buy fun things for each other for Christmas without worrying or debating its practicality.

For next year we may be walking around like zombies from sleepless nights and adjusting children. We may be calling our friends asking them to buy a Christmas tree for us and asking if their kids can come over for free pizza and decorate our house for Christmas. We may be getting Amazon boxes filled with diapers, formula, and toys instead of making trips to the store. We may be having English lessons with our older children.

And it will all be worth it. Just like these last quiet 10 years being alone with my husband have been worth it. And for these things I'm thankful. God has given me more than I could want in ways I never would have expected. And why does that surprise me when his word says he wants to do more than we could ever imagine or think.

And for quiet times that are here and crazy times to come, I give thanks to my maker. For he is so good and worth it.