Davina’s first Christmas was quite the adventure! If you’ve been hanging out with us on Instagram, you got the whole rundown (and if not, it’s all saved to the highlight “Christmas Travels”). It’s almost too easy to look back on our week of Christmas vacation and say it was terrible. A mess. Most things went so far off track, it’s not even funny.

✖️Snow storm
✖️Cancelled flight
✖️Cranky, teething baby
✖️Difficulty coordinating schedules
✖️Snowed in
✖️Not sleeping baby
✖️Sick family members
✖️Unexpected work conflicts
✖️Baby refusing to let anyone but M+D hold her

At times, it was difficult to see past the storm (literal + mental) in front of me. I was emotional, exhausted, and distraught. But God, in all His glorious ways, helped me see the beauty in the disastrous week. 

🖤 In the view from our snowed in house on the hill
🖤 In the little hands that found comfort only in my arms
🖤 In the sibling who became a shoulder to cry on
🖤 In the thoughtful side of chicken, because someone remembered I can’t eat beef
🖤 In the spontaneous game nights
🖤 In the laughter of my children, playing with their cousins
🖤 In the kitchen, as traditional family recipes were taught

You’ve heard me talk about gratitude journaling more than once, but this took that practice to an entirely new level! Finding things to be thankful for when everything is going great? That part’s easy. But seeking out things to be thankful for when you’re having a mess of a week, when things seem to be going wrong at every turn… That takes hard work.

Friend, hear me when I say – there are always blessings. Sometimes you just have to look extra hard for them! Thank you, Jesus, for allowing me to see all the beauty! Imagine what I would have missed out on if I had only focused on the struggle.