woes or wows



            It is that time of year when we all take a look backwards and reflect on the year we have had. My initial response is to wave good bye to 2012 and slam the door so it can’t follow me. Let’s just say it has been a rather challenging year.
            However, when I look at all the perceived negative events of the year they are more than laced with God’s blessings to get me through. Maybe you have heard the saying “God doesn’t give us more than we can handle; I just wish he didn’t trust me so much.” There have been several times this year when I questioned God’s opinion of my strength. Yet, how often do I question his strength? Revelation time:  It isn’t my strength, without him I have no strength whatsoever. God daily provides me with strength.
            I’m pretty confident that if I shared all the woes from my year, the average person would concur, it was not pretty. What I’d rather share are the wows from this year.
My daughter began the year paralyzed from MS, is now walking and living a pretty normal life. (There are a great many wows that go with my daughter’s story – maybe another time)
My sister received a diagnosis of the big C, but it was in her thyroid, the easiest cancer to repair.
My Mom had a major fall that resulted in some big life changes for all of us (mostly my sister, thank you Wendy) but I have a greater appreciation for the fact that our days are numbered and as a result, I spend more time with my mom than I did previously.
There have also been extended family events and health issues but these have all worked to draw us all closer together and hold each other up.
            These are only a few of the wows in my life. The amalgam of wows boil down to the fact that every direction life took me this year, God was there, his hand was upon us and it was more than a little evident. God always provides, ALWAYS. It may not be in a way we desire or expect but it is always the right way.
            So, as you do your year in review wherever you have a woe, look for a wow, I bet you can find it. Praise God for the abundant blessings. God bless the year to come!
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