A Kindlier Dozen

And ye, who have met with Adversity's blast,
And been bow'd to the earth by its fury;
To whom the Twelve Months, that have recently pass'd
Were as harsh as a prejudiced jury -
Still, fill to the Future! and join in our chime,
The regrets of remembrance to cozen,
And having obtained a New Trial of Time,
Shout in hopes of a kindlier dozen.
~Thomas Hood

source

A dozen. 12. An easy number. Not too big and not too small. Even and clean looking.  

Pleasing to the eye is the number twelve. 

Easily divided, multiplied and added.  

An able goal can be 12 lbs. Or 12 thank yous. 

Twelve more smiles in a day.

Good things come in twelve. 

12 eggs.

Dozen donuts.

Twelve hours and 12 dollars.

A Year. Twelve Months. Twelve new beginnings every single year. 

Twelve last-day-of-the-months to assess how it went. 

Twelve turns of the moon to watch it shift and change, grow and shrink like shadows.

Twelve months to enjoy our seasons flowing into each other like ripples on the lake.

Twelve chunks of time linked together and filled with mundane chores and beautiful moments of grace. The days run together in succession of do this-es and do thats and occasionally we pause for a moment and watch our children be the amazing creatures they are. 

Sometimes life feels on top of the world like you have your own personal ray of sunshine from God warming you into cat in the windowsill complacency. Oh how we like that sunshine and those easy peasy days.

Sometimes it feels like if that one more thing happens just one more time the thin thread of sanity might just break. Sometimes those threads are stuck straining and holding you together for far more than just one moon cycle. It can start to feel a bit tiresome hanging over that pit for so long. Two months? Four? A year?

Some years are just like that.

To God Be the Glory in those days.

 When you cry yourself to sleep from fear.

When your head swims with unpaid bills.

When your stomach turns because of relationships that worsen instead of strengthen.

When the house is constantly in need of repair...

and the children are fighting out their emotions...

and the teenagers are struggling with growing up lessons...

and your friend is possibly sick with cancer...

and your own health is in question...

and your husband is gone so often you feel like a single parent sometimes...

and there is a death in your family that you just can not wrap your mind around or fix your heart from quivering at the thought of his last days...

Some Years are just like that.  God can still get the Glory.

A dozen months to feel kind of miserable in a self wallowing, private, pity party sort of way. To lament your troublesome life. A whole year to hang on to that fraying thread of...

HOPE. 

Honestly, Hope in Jesus is all you really have. 

When all else is out of control and wrong. 

He is there.

When there are no answers and no way it seems out of the situation.

He is there.

When you stop relying on yourself.

He is there.

There are no promises for a top of the mountain sunshiny spa day. So frankly, some years are going to just stink. The LORD uses this though. He uses our human messes and our frustration. He uses our lack of understanding. He uses our life experience and asks us to trust Him. Have Hope in Him. 

¹⁸ “Forget the former things;
    do not dwell on the past.
¹⁹ See, I am doing a new thing!
    Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness    and streams in the wasteland.  ~Isaiah 43:18-19

That wasteland can stretch forever. One thing after another until you feel the breaking point. Until it seems you may never feel calm again. But the wasteland is real. It is part of our journey here.  It is integral for God's plan in your life. Embrace it and learn from it. Trust in Him. He is your Hope.

1 There is a time for everything,
    and a season for every activity under the heavens:

²     a time to be born and a time to die,
    a time to plant and a time to uproot,
³     a time to kill and a time to heal,
    a time to tear down and a time to build,
⁴     a time to weep and a time to laugh,
    a time to mourn and a time to dance,
⁵     a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
⁶     a time to search and a time to give up,
    a time to keep and a time to throw away,
⁷     a time to tear and a time to mend,
    a time to be silent and a time to speak,⁸     a time to love and a time to hate,    a time for war and a time for peace, ~Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Dear Lord, please give us a kindlier dozen this year. I'm ready for some sun.

Always Blessed,

Gretchen :)

Verses all from www.biblegateway.com

Quote from http://www.quotegarden.com/new-year.html

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Modest Mom Blog 

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