Happy New Year!

I love New Years, but not because I like to party or watch the ball drop or anything like that. I’d actually much rather be at home than out in the cold, and what I love best is just the opportunity to spend time with people I love and the prompting to look back with gratitude and to look forward with hope. This weekend we went to a service with Eric’s brother, and that was the main message: that gratitude and hope go hand in hand, that our hope for the future increases in proportion with our gratitude for what has happened in the past. We were invited to meditate for a moment on the things we are grateful for in 2012, and I was in tears almost immediately. There is just so much to be thankful for. What really moved me, though, was thinking about the times that were difficult this year, and realizing how gently and lovingly I’d been carried through them. There is such a peace in that knowledge, such a comfort. As 2013 begins, I am beyond excited about all the things I’m hoping and planning for the year. Happy happy new year to you and yours–I hope this year is your best yet!