This past Tuesday was my birthday, and I turned 26 years old. This year I couldn't help but remember how un-gracefully I turned 25 last year. It was the first birthday I hadn't looked forward to my entire life. I think in hindsight I thought both since I had been married and for the past few months that I would be a mother by the time my birthday rolled around, and when I wasn't that hard fact made me dread turning one year older. I have always loved my birthday beyond reason and didn't want what happened last year to become a trend.

Thankfully, it didn't. I have been looking forward to 2017 for so many reasons, not the least of which is putting 2016 behind me. Of course I had wonderful things happen last year and I don't want to discount that, but it was also the hardest year I've lived. I'm not someone who generally picks a 'word of the year' but as I was praying leading up to New Years Eve, the word peace popped into my mind.

This year, the year I turned 26, I will seek peace...