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All Is Calm...Finally

So cozy. I love hanging out in our new bedroom. Today is the first quiet day in quite awhile, and it feels so good to just be home and have Brian here all day and nowhere to go and no meals to make and just rest.😌❤
We had five family Christmas parties to go to this year. So gifts and food and scheduling and travelling for all those was crazy, plus we have some far away family visiting. And I love my family, and it is such a blessing to have so much extended family around, but it makes for a hectic holiday season for our family. We almost made it through all the parties without any sickness too, which, like, never happens. Nathaniel got a tummy bug two days after Christmas, and Sophie has a little fever today, and Brian and I both feel like we might be getting a cold, or maybe we're just worn out.
I think we might have to cut back on more parties next year...five parties in 11 days is a a lot.
Coming into the holidays already behind on sleep due to insomnia and adrenal fatigue makes it even more difficult to stay on top of everything. Thankfully I have a few go-to supplements and strategies that help me deal with all the stress. I've learned that refocusing and making time for devotions and self care is most important when it feels like those things are just luxuries or extras that I don't have time for.  And it's ok to say no sometimes too. I've learned if I start thinking or saying "I just can't do it all!" to take a step back and recognize the truth of that and maybe just let some things go. We cannot please everyone all the time; don't run yourself into the ground trying.
 
I picked up a couple devotionals books from our church library a few weeks ago, to read during the Advent season, and I really enjoyed them. The Dawning of Indestructible Joy has a daily devotion for the first 25 days of December. It was nice to have a Christmas themed devotion to read first thing in the morning and they are short so it was easier to not skip it. I enjoyed the focus on experiencing the fullness of Christ and his love and humility, and feeling truly joyful and resting in His finished work.

Prepare Him Room is a family devotional book that I read with Sophie and Nathaniel most mornings for our breakfast devotional time. We didn't do the suggested activities or have the CD that you can get to accompany the reading, but we did sing the reccomended carols that we knew. It was nice, again, to have something specifically for the Christmas season and also written with children in mind. There is also a short story, meant to be read one chapter a week, which the kids looked forward to hearing. The book mentions Old Testament prophecies often and points out how they were fulfilled in Christ's coming, which, to me, provided a fresh perspective on the traditional Christmas story. 
New Morning Mercies by Paul Tripp; my new devotional for 2018. My peek inside made excited to start it!
 I can't believe tomorrow is the last day of 2017...its been quite a year for our family...
I'm going to try savor the last hours of this year and prepare for the new one. 
This sign was a Christmas present from my dear friend (and sister in law!). I think it's
my favorite gift this year.💕 I've been meditating on those words, "He restoreth my soul." Just take a deep breath and let that sink in. He can, and does, restore us, and one day He will make ALL things new. 
"He restoreth my soul."
Such great peacefulness and rest for us in that thought and reality! I am praying that this new year, 2018, will be a year of restoration, and also that I would rest more fully in Him.

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