As I reflect back on all that has happened during the past year, I feel immensely blessed. I had a number of friends this year refer to the labor and delivery of an infant as passing through the valley of the shadow of death. Eight months later I can barely remember the physical pain. It has been swallowed by the joy of motherhood. The growth of my immediate family has been supported by extended family. What I still see as the miracle of flight has allowed my in-laws to visit from Croatia and my son and I to visit my family in Idaho. Even in his infancy, my son knows he has a large, multicultural, cross-continental family who love him.

In addition to having a wonderful family, I have the good fortune of working with a group of people who are supportive and understanding of my new family and keep me smiling through the work day. They are people I am happy to claim as friends, and I value the diversity they bring to my life. This may not seem like much, but it is the first work environment in which I have not been plagued by workplace politics and continual jostling of my career ladder. I feel at peace in the agency setting, but by no means complacent. I look forward to the work year ahead and the changes and growth it promises.

I celebrate my birthday, my wedding anniversary, the birth of Jesus Christ, and the start of a new year all within a two week period. The amount of joy that gets packed into these 15 days is a little overwhelming sometimes. I have been blessed with family, friends, the necessities of life, and a few extra comforts. I have been blessed each day by the love my Heavenly Father pours upon me. I have a husband and a son who help me better understand God’s love for me because of the love I feel from them and for them.

And so I dedicate this post to all those who are still searching for love. I have been there; I have felt the pain of loneliness; and I have despaired in fear of always being unloved and alone. But depth of my sorrow hollowed me into a vessel large enough to hold the joy and love I feel now. I have learned through experience that there is opposition in all things, and I have learned how to nourish a faltering flame so that it warms my soul against the pounding nor’easters. May you be able find and hold onto the joy that passes your way in the year to come.