I got my 10yo a camera for Christmas. I am always impressed with her eye for detail and the varied angles at which she draws pictures. I am not bragging her up as some sort of prodigy, but it has always been obvious that her brain sees things differently than mine.

I am not a resolution person or a word of the year person, but the end of the year does make me a bit more reflective. 2018 was a hard year. I knew it would be a year of changes: the oldest graduated and the youngest started Kindergarten. I did not expect so many extra challenges. My husband described it as a year of setbacks and frustrations. Record rainfall. Flooding. Demolition. Mold. Heart complications. Risky ventures. Extra work. Fighting. Stress. Livestock problems. Truck transmission. Teenagers.

Of course the year ended with more rain. I look outside and see a muddy mess. Yet when I looked through the pictures that my daughter took, I saw that she was able to capture so much more.

I decided that I just needed a new perspective. I can see how the Lord helped us through all of these extra challenges. I can look at the changes to see growth and all of the exciting, new things happening in our lives. Even in the destruction I can see hope for the future.

It is easy to get stuck in the negative. Sometimes I don’t even realize that is what I am doing. I need to work on that. I want to be less critical. I want to complain less. I want to be more positive.

I really hate putting stuff like this out here, because I know a few people will read my blog and actually try to hold me to it. Haha! To be honest, I am failing at this already. It is definitely going to be a continual battle. I will probably need to readjust my perspective many times each day, but I am trying.

P.S. Thank you, Lydia, for letting me use your pictures on my blog. <3