Hope Stirred, Not Shaken

This has been a crazy year.
We began the year moving to Mississippi, in snow. We left twenty inches in Virginia and came down to the deep South to four inches. Weird.
We are planting a church which actually has been in existence for nine years. So, maybe not exactly planting, but pulling roots and pruning dead limbs. Harder than it sounds.
During the year, my children both turned into full-fledged teenagers who are at least four inches taller than me. I am not so intimidating anymore, not that I think I ever was, but it gave me the illusion that I had height over them at least. Not any more.
They are both pushing it, if you know what I mean. For instance, my son said the other day that he had a "Kim-hangover." I gathered that statement to mean that he had his fill of me. Hurtful much?
There have been times that I thought I had lost my mind. True, not a huge loss, but a loss nonetheless. Everything's been tight this year, my money, my nerves, my clothes (there is a reason why MS is the most obese state!). It's enough to shake my faith.
However, I serve a God who will not let me go. As many times as I have wanted to run away from the mess I affectionately call my family (and there have been more than one), He has found a way to stir up my hope. It is as if He pulls back the curtains of the future for a bit to allow me to see my children turning out okay, better than okay. That there is an end to financial turmoil. That this little parish could stir up this state for the Lord. That He really is in control and I really am not and it really is a good thing!
I honestly do not have all the answers. I will not be writing a marriage or parenting book any time soon, probably NEVER! But, I can say that God has been faithful, and I have to trust that He will continue to be, no matter what state I am in (emotional, physical, spiritual). Hope is the greatest tool against discouragement, and I can have it because this life is not over yet! I know my Redeemer lives and I will yet see Him.