Now What?

The days following Christmas always leave me wondering.  Is it exciting to pack up the decorations and move into the new year or should I be wistful that such a time of anticipation and excitement has ended?  To be honest, it depends on the year for me.  This year, it's both.  Next Christmas we'll have even more children and so I am already looking forward to the added joy each child brings.  This next year holds much promise for our family and I can't wait.  However, I've truly enjoyed many special moments this Christmas season and loved the peace we've been living in.

This week, for us, is one of anticipation and preparation.  In our family, we have a New Years tradition (it's a young one, but we plan to continue it!) that we must now prepare for.  We will ring in the New Year together at home ... with snack foods and a movie and one present for each person to celebrate the final day of the year.  The next day we will enjoy a day of family relaxing and go over our goals for the next year.  We will talk about things we want to experience, things we hope to learn, the people we want to grow into.  We will set goals for ourselves, but also for our family.  We will also reflect on the year we have just finished.  It's a time of encouragement and a time of motivation.

What will you do?