Reflections on 2013

Briefly, before 2014 arrives, I wanted to put down a few thoughts on the whirlwind of the past few months...since I haven't taken time to express these on the blog (although many of you have heard me say something like this...if I don't write it down, I won't remember!)

We are so thankful for how well our move has gone.  I don't think if we had written down all the things we wanted to happen, we could have hoped for a move as smooth as we've had.  So instead I'll just try to list a few of the great things that come to mind.

Tom has a great job!  Our house sold in 23 days.  The house we wanted, had offered on and been rejected came down in price and the sellers accepted our second offer right away.  We found a good moving company with good guys who packed our stuff well, and a driver who made his way safely here, and more movers who unpacked our stuff.  We had a safe trip here, even though many things could have happened (and something came quite close), nothing bad did.

Natalie loves her new school (forgive me for not blogging about her new school!)  She attended for two weeks before Christmas break and I really think the new school will be a great benefit to her.  She is not the only special needs kid, as she was at her school in California.  There are 20 or 30? other kids with special needs, and there are many staff who work to integrate the kids with additional needs into the gen ed classroom setting.  They "get" Natalie (even Natalie's gen ed teacher "gets" her), and Natalie is blossoming under their care.  This is a HUGE relief, because Natalie's school placement was probably the thing that I was most worried about with our move.

The house we are renting while our home was closing and continues to have minor repairs is quite comfortable in a nice neighborhood.  The church Tom has been attending since he first came out is welcoming to our whole family.  There are tons of kids at the church, and Tom and I enjoy meeting new people every week.  Everyone is so nice while driving:  they let you cut in front of them, I've only heard one car honk the whole time I've been here, even when someone doesn't see the light turn.  I've seen no road rage or drivers weaving in and out unsafely.  Everything is a much slower pace, and that means people take time to express niceties to each other, whether it's in the store or on the street or at the mailbox.

This morning I was talking with the kids about how much God has blessed us with a new, much larger home, and how we still have to be careful not to covet the abundance we see that others have.  Someone will always have more than us, and we can be so thankful for what we have when we remember the small property we had in California.  That led to a discussion of what the opposite of coveting is:  contentment.  So as 2013 closes, I pray that we all feel contentment with how God has blessed us, and that we will see His new blessings in 2014.