You'll Just Have to Imagine What We Look Like

I wanted to have a family picture taken so I could post it along with a 2007 year in review. Well, it's now January 11th and we haven't even come close to getting a family photo taken (plus our Christmas decorations are still up, including our tree; maybe I can start a new trend . . .), so I figure it's pointless to wait to blog until I have visual evidence that we still exist.

2007 was an interesting year. Without a doubt, the addition of Charles Richard Barker to our family was the highlight of the year. Not his birth, mind you, although that was awesome, but just having little Charlie around. Our family feels more complete now that he is with us.

2007 has taught me that it truly is a "gift to be simple." I take great joy in the simple moments of my life -- watching Josh, Alek and Katie wrestle on the floor; having Charlie leap out of my arms to join in; dancing with the kiddos; Alek asking me to be quiet so he can say a silent prayer that we won't run out of gas and we'll make it to the airport on time; cuddling on the couch with Josh (I can hear Heather saying, "ewww"); and in general just those moments when life is quiet and everything seems right and my heart wants to burst from the gratitude I feel for everything that I have. And I want to be good, so I can show Heavenly Father that I really do just appreciate my life so much.

Nothing is perfect. This past year wasn't perfect, and 2008 isn't shaping up to be a roaring success to tell you the truth. But there's something perfect about the imperfection of life. All the directions the world tries to push and pull us in, all the storms that rage around us, all the attempts at destroying everything that is good and sacred -- these are the things that reveal who we are, what we are made of. Any of us at any time could choose to give up, just surrender who we are and who we were meant to be and stop fighting because sometimes it just is so exhausting. People do that every day.

But there are other people -- so many that I know and love -- who every day keep doing the right things. They pray, they take care of others, they're kind, they learn from the best books, and they don't lean unto their own understanding. They're my family -- my husband, my kids, my mom, my siblings and their families, my in-laws, and my friends. They're my heroes. They keep me going. Mostly they keep me going back to the Lord and back to the Lord and back to the Lord. And then He keeps me going. He tells me to just bear it a little longer, just bear the hard things I have been given, because they will make me strong. And He tells me I can do it. And I believe Him. So I keep going and I keep going and I keep going.

And when I do that I am stronger. And my family is stronger. And my marriage is stronger. And I am more loving and less selfish. And I am happy.

I wish I could give you a list of great things I accomplished this year. But there's not much to tell. But I am happy and my husband and my kids are happy. So it was a good year.

I don't know where this post came from. I really intended to just do a neat little wrap up of the past 12 months. But that seems so pointless. You all know, don't you? Besides, what happened this year doesn't matter nearly as much as what I've learned and who I am becoming. Some times, I just want to talk about what is essential.

I love all my family so much. I love my friends. I just wish everyone could know, as much as I do in this moment right now, that God loves us, that His Son is our Savior and that our lives have meaning and purpose.