psalm 118:24*

i have been wanting to start a blog for a long time now. finally i find myself with a free night to waste my time setting this all up! haha. it is the sunday night after thanksgiving 2007. so far this holiday season has brought a lot of changes. grandma and grandpa b went to florida early this year. usually they don't leave until after christmas, so we are celebrating without them this year. it's weird having small celebrations now, growing up i was always going to two or three different family parties and seeing all my relatives. now it's just me and the fam. this is the first holiday season without grandma duff either. it's weird how time goes by so fast. already it's been 8 months since she has been gone, but i have just become so consumed by my own life that i haven't really thought about it i guess. i was talking to my cousin about how funny life is; growing up it's been my grandpa that has been sick and we always just assumed he would be the first to go. he is hanging on strong though. he is such a stud.

i chose to title my blog with this verse from psalm because i have been doing a lot of thinking lately about rejoicing always. these days i often find myself wondering what i have to be thankful for or happy about. right around this time i get sick of routine and ready for a long break to revive my spirits. it's easy to complain about the cold and the snow during these winter days when i bundle up and wonder why i'm freezing my way to a 10am class that is half an hour away. it's easy to come home and just want to curl up in bed and sleep instead of working out or leaving time to call a friend. it's harder these days to find happiness in the small things when you are too busy worrying about how cold your ears are (mine are pretty big so they tend to get extra cold). this verse though says those are the days the Lord has made. as careful as he was to make those beautiful summer sunsets and balmy spring days he is just as carefully making these icy cold winter ones, and we should be glad in it.

so i still just want christmas break to get here. i still hate rolling out of bed after hitting snooze as many times as possible. but i am working on not letting a day pass without thanking God for it. i'm reverting back to my childhood days of kneeling by my bed each night and praying a prayer of thankfulness and of hope for another day carefully laid out by our Lord. it's easy to wish the day would just end when it's not going your way or go to bed early just to get to the next one faster, but we cannot take even a single day for granted. the Lord didn't make any mistakes.