A long December...

I guess I never realized how hard Christmas time is for some people, for the first time this year I was affected by feelings of sadness and hurting, not just in those around me, but also in myself. Mine I take as self-pity, which I try not to allow too much of into my life, and Jesus usually yanks me out of my rut (sometimes it takes a few days), but mainly I was affected by certain people around me that I care a lot about. One of my friends that I’ve known since high school’s father passed away a few months ago, another girl that I work with lost her grandfather last week, three other people that I’m close to are going through messy divorces, just to name a few. I am actually thankful that I am able to recognize different circumstances around me that I have never really paid attention to before (during the holiday season). I was able to visit and talk with each of these people throughout this past month and became quite burdened (in a good way I suppose) with what they were going through; I have never experienced the loss of someone I have been very close to, but I can honestly say that I know the gut wrenching feeling of a broken heart, I know the suffocating pain of feeling hopelessly sad, I know how seeing the light at the end of the tunnel can seem almost impossible, and I also know that God heals and God restores like nothing else. It takes time, time, time, and prayer lots of prayer. That’s what I’ve been doing for everyone I know that is really hurting through this season, that’s a lot of what I’ve done for the past two days. This is an odd “season” of my life-lots of soul searching, but the closest I’ve ever been to God-I’m taking it all in, absorbing it, processing it, and checking in with God constantly- it’s interesting-when you give God the reins and sit back and watch Him work, amusing as well, but hard, did I mention hard?

December had some really good times though, the first set of pictures is from our churches Christmas production:

I did my first updo on Siobhan-"Grace", and it actually turned out pretty good! (We were both nervous)
I fell in love w/this little boy/sheep-Tadhg, I put his costume on for each performance, and he always made me make sure his hat was tied "extra tight" :o)

I did these beautiful girls (and boy) hair-Danielle, Stefani, Kate, Corbin, and Madison-so much fun!
This is my small group at church, I got them books that tell the Christmas story and play music-they are Myatt, Sara, Harper, Logan, Emory, and Eric-love them!
My two favorite girls-so pretty and such amazing personalities! (Emory and Harper)
These are my sisters and brother on Christmas-Zach, Olivia, me, Sheela, and Tye :o)