Feeling yucky, silver linings, and my word for 2014

For the past two weeks, we've been passing around illness like it's a Handy-Snacks in the school lunch room. So, we rang in the new year last night by going to bed as early as possible, which was still 10:30 because Noodle decided it was a good night to scream. A lot. Poor thing has been constipated I think because of the medicine I'm on for mastitis (again). Moo moved from a stomach bug to a fever/cough/congestion combo that's lingering on for what feels like an eternity. Christmas Eve night, Phil got the stomach bug, and Noodle's reflux has been flaring up.

So.

We've hardly slept.
We're exhausted.
We feel cooped up.
We feel defeated before the day has even begun.
It's an accomplishment just to get dressed every day.

But enough whining. The silver linings in all this?

Phil got sick when his work day was light the next day.
Phil was off and we were at my parents' (read: help available) when I was sick.
Noodle has not gotten the stomach bug or the cough.
These sicknesses are temporary; I can't imagine the stress and difficulty of chronic illness.
This life is temporary; we were made for something bigger than these day-to-day toils.

A friend asked me about my New Year's Resolution(s) this year, and told her I hadn't even had the brain power to think of it. Today feels like any other day with spills and snot and nap times and wrangling my toddler out of his favorite PJs.

While I don't have a resolution per se, I do have a word that I pray drives this year: HOPE. Hope for Heaven. Hope in Jesus. Hope for restoration in the world, my family, and my own heart. Hope that's anchored in the soul, the deep places that only God knows and only God can meet, despite circumstances. Hope that aims to look for the good in all circumstances, even when all the answers aren't there and it hurts. Hope that knows without a doubt that God is up to something all the time even if all I can see is black black black. And it's good. That's the hope I long for.