The Good

We humans must be a nostalgic bunch because it's the last day of 2022 and everywhere I find people posting highlights from the year that's almost behind us. Oh well, I'm about to join them.

This morning as I was praying I found myself giving a great deal of thanks for this past year. Yes, yes, I cried this year too. That surprises no one as I'm pretty sure only screen doors were installed to keep my tears at bay. No matter. I heard somewhere that tears are healing. But I don't want to talk about the sad things, I want to share a couple of lists of good things that I either discovered or am simply thankful.

Thanks

Another year is over and I spent it with wonderful friends who do real life with me. I am grateful for the cups of tea, carpooling, book club, walks, paddle boarding, meals, texts, and conversations. God is kind to create us with the ability to love so many people so deeply.
I received a new niece and nephew this past year.
Most of my friends had babies, so I guess I gained a bunch of nieces and nephews.
I've prayed for years for a single friend and this year I received a couple.
I started working part time at a job that I really like.
My body can do all the things I need and want it to do. Fingers play the piano, eyes read words, nose smells the fresh rain, legs can walk or swim or bike. This year in particular I am aware that not everyone has these things, and I am grateful that I do.
The ability and time to learn.
My grandparents. They love God and each other and us and their church. The more I get to know them the more I want to be like them. They know how to talk seriously and they know how to laugh till they cry. They know how to pray.

What I Discovered/Liked

Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors, go find him on Spotify
Paddle boarding, need I say more?
Andrew Peterson's Wingfeather Series
L. B. Graham's Binding of the Blade Series
George MacDonald's books (these have become my Sunday evening reads)
Sparkling water (why am I so late to the game with these?)
I started writing poetry this year and published a little book of it. You can find that here.
My apartment sized dishwasher. Game changer.
Lindywell Pilates. Also a game changer.
The library

It has been a full year, but a good year. I loved camping and going to Tobermory, playing games with my family and having campfires with my friends, sitting on the couch with embroidery or a good book, my paddle board and my bike. As I bid adieu to 2022 I'll post the two songs that I keep going back to. May they continue to speak truth to you and me as we begin another year, another adventure, moment by moment trusting and loving our Father in Heaven.

Comments

Body Image (1)

Contentedly situated in lawn chairs with our toes in the sand and the baby playing on a blanket at our feet, my friend and I watch her girls digging holes or running between the beach and the lake. Periodically, the girls run up to us to display the shells and rocks they've found. At one point, as the girls surround us, one of us adults comments on the baby being chubby (which she is, as a baby should be) after which one of the girls looks at me and says, "you're kind of chubby." She wasn't trying to be rude or smart, she was just being bluntly observant as children are. As I looked at I her and considered an answer, I thought of the baggage of body image that women have carried for generations, and I thought, I don't want her to carry this baggage too. I want better for her. I replied, "you know, being a little chubby is actually a good thing. Our bodies function better and it helps keep us warm." This deep lesson was probably lost on her as she s...

Surprise Sin

Over Easter weekend I had the opportunity to visit my grandparents. We caught up over soup and egg salad sandwiches and then migrated to the living room with cups of tea. Gradually the conversation turned to a couple young siblings from their church whom they've observed seldom fight. Sometimes these kids do get angry or annoyed with each other and then they fight, but that is not their normal relationship. My grandfather made this observation, "isn't that just like sin? You are living your life of obedience and then all of a sudden its like sin gets the better of you." It was a comforting statement coming from my elderly grandfather who has been walking with the Lord for over 80 years. Even as a seasoned saint, sin still creeps up on him. But it has also made me think quite a bit. Sometimes I am tempted to think that if I do everything right (regular devotions, get enough sleep, listen to good music, eat well, have Christian fellowship, exercise) then I won't fal...

Delayed Grief

Grief is a crazy thing. Sometimes you cry till you fall asleep, sometimes you're angry, sometimes you can't feel anything, and sometimes you're so, so tried. Grief is also unpredictable in that it can take a long time to heal...and sometimes it feels like its been healed and then you're crying on your way home from the grocery store and you aren't even sure why. Grief is not logical and polite and convenient. It interrupts our lives on its terms. A couple mornings ago I was thinking about how tired I am. I'm not weepy or angry or even really sad, just tired, and this tiredness is physical, mental, and emotional. Which surprises me because my life is actually really great and I haven't had anything in recent months to be sad about. However, the more I contemplated it, I think the tiredness is a long term symptom of a deep sadness that I lived in a couple years ago. Which is the first thing I wanted to share with you. Maybe, like me, there has been nothing r...

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