Is it over yet??

Wow. Let me just take a deep cleansing breath. As I bid farewell to 2008 and am bracing myself for 2009 - a year in which I will be the mother of a 1 year old AND a 3 year old and take our first BIG family vacation with just us and the boys - I am put in mind of our Sunday School lesson from this past week. We were asked three questions:

1. What are some of the blessings of 2008?
2. What was an unexpected blessing of 2008?
3. What is something from 2008 that you need to put behind you in order to prepare for 2009?

Here were my answers:
1. Too many to list, but I can try. My health, my children, Troy, Graham's birth, hospitals, nurses and doctors (we saw a lot of them this year), health insurance, family and friends, sales, our church family, playgroup, gas prices dropping, working from home...
2. Well, our biggest surprise this year was Graham's birth - not Graham himself, we knew he was coming in August of '07, but just the circumstances around his birth. It really seemed like nothing was going right, and I was getting so frustrated. Then one day, as I was scrubbing up to go into the NICU to see my baby, one of the nurses said "I am so sorry that he is here" and it just stopped me for a second. I know her thought was that she was sorry that we were experiencing all that we were, and that she wished that we were able to go home with a happy, healthy little guy, but I just looked at her and said "I'm not, the doctors are here, and he needs help. I'm glad he's able to get it." A realization that I made recently was that even 100 years ago, neither Gabriel nor I would have survived his birth - he was turned around and his cord was around his neck; and had it not been for the wonderful health care professionals in our country, Graham would not have survived long after his birth. I am thankful to be an American, to live in a place where of course they would take him to the NICU and be able to care for him until I could take him home. Where they would make accomodations for me to stay in the hospital until my baby could come home with me, and where the nurses cared so much for us that they genuinely were sad that they had to care for us because of our situation.
3. Is a bit personal, and I don't think I'll share it on here, but it is great food for thought. What have you been holding onto that you should let go of so that you can start your New Year on the right foot? Jealousy? Anger? Frustration? Past hurts? Control issues? I think I can say yes to all of those myself. In a very poignant moment, our Sunday School teacher had us write all these things down and nail them onto a huge cross in the middle of our Sunday School room. I don't have to worry about carrying all that nonsense around and being burdened by it any more. He did what I will never be able to do - get rid of those sins and make me a perfect child of God.