Goodbye and Good Riddance January

I say that and February hasn’t started off the best either, but…

January was a rough month. There has been so much pain, hurting, disappointment and frustration around me. It is laying so heavily on my heart. I feel like every time I turn around there is another person I am lifting up to the Lord. I am so glad that the Lord has blessed us with prayer and the ability to lift our friends and family up to Him, but it hurts me to see so many others hurting around me.

My first week back at work after the holidays one of my coworkers passed away fairly unexpectedly. This continues to be tough for all of us who worked with her, and obviously her family, with so many reminders around us of her absence.

Then our good friends Rachel and Jeremy that I referenced here had their second miscarriage within a 4 month time span. I hurt so much for them and hate to see my friends suffering like that.

There have been several other things going on in our lives that seem petty compared to people losing loved ones so I am not even going to go into detail. But there has been a lot going on personally that makes for a pretty icky month.

January came to a close with that disappointing adoption news that I shared yesterday.

So I thought…surely, surely, February will be better. January is over and February is a new start. Then I wake up this morning and our lizard is dead. (I know, it’s weird that we have a lizard but I am allergic to anything with fur or feathers…so a lizard and fish is about all we can have in the pet arena.) I am telling myself that he died before midnight so it doesn’t count for February. But my goodness.

I don’t say all of this to throw myself a pity party…just to say that thank goodness the month is over. God is so good though and will give us the strength to get through it all. He wants us to look to Him, not at our circumstances. He can see the whole picture and we just simply cannot.

So in the midst of it all, I am praising God that HE can give us hope even when things around us seem hopeless. HE can give us peace in the midst of the storm. HE can show us the way when it seems like there is no clear path. HE will see us through it all!!! Even the icky Januarys.