I don't want to forget this year, what God taught me in a hard season.

In many ways, the past couple of years have felt like one long saga of moving from one stressful

event straight into the next. There were stretches where it felt like we barely had time to catch

our breath before the next thing hit. We've walked through some of our lowest lows, moments where we

felt overwhelmed, worn thin, and honestly, without much hope. We've lived through painful health

emergencies and deep health crises that shook our sense of stability and forced us to face

how little control we actually have. There were seasons where we felt rung dry with nothing left to give,

yet we still needed to show up, keep moving forward, and carry on at full steam ahead,

because life didn't pause just because we were exhausted. And yet, in the middle of that dryness,

God was still weaving beautiful blessings into our days. Sometimes those blessings

were big and obvious. Sometimes they were quiet mercies. Just enough strength for the day.

Just the right person showing up at the right time. Just enough clarity to take the next step.

I would notice them in the moment. I would thank God for them. And then, almost immediately,

my heart would shift back into worry mode, bracing myself for whatever might come next. I didn't

linger in gratitude the way I should have. I didn't always carry that Thanksgiving forward into the

next crisis. I didn't let the remembrance of God's faithfulness steady me the way it could have. Instead,

I often moved from blessing to blessing without letting them fully sink in, without letting them

reshape how I faced what was ahead. As I sit now, making plans for 2026 and thinking through

what we want to do differently as a family. I can feel that something is changing.

I sense God leading us into a new season, a season where we might finally be able to breathe a little,

a season where we can establish better rhythms and more life-giving routines, a season where we can put

one foot in front of the other, not crazy or frantic with fear, but steady, trusting God

...