Auld Lang Syne, my friends.
I’m over here walking through the usual Christmas letdown, as I slowly pack up the tree and take all the boxes of decorations back to the attic. The twelve chapters of 2023 are complete and it’s time to close the book of the year.
During the last week of December, it has become an annual habit for me to think back through the past twelve months and write down the highs, the lows, the growths, the new experiences, and the milestones. All the things that summarized the year are written down somewhere (hopefully in my journal) and memorialized. It always helps me to take time to look for God’s hand in the pages of the previous twelve months. He met me here… He comforted me there… He was in that conversation… He grew my faith there…
There were plenty of little (and not-so-little!) joys in 2023 —
In January, I released my first book! - in both eBook and paperback format. (Heads up: “Where Joy Is” will be available as a hardback in early 2024!)
In March, my family went to Texas for a girl’s conference (the boys tagged along for fun).
Later in March, our city was hit by a tornado. God spared our home.
In the spring, my son played baseball and we enjoyed cheering him on.
We went camping in Oklahoma to celebrate the beginning of summer.
In June, I got a new job that I enjoy.
My husband grew in his place of work.
I studied Acts and Titus with the women in our church.
We watched friends and family get married.
Two of my sisters announced a pregnancy.
My husband’s mom moved here from Minnesota in September.
I spoke at a women’s conference in October.
In November, my husband and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary.
Mingled in were birthdays and school events, fellowship, VBS and other church activities, and the grind of everyday life.
There were also some hard things —
In the spring, I wrecked our van, breaking my kneecap and spraining my left wrist.
In the summer, I lost my job of five years with no warning.
My dad was diagnosed with kidney disease and began dialysis.
In the fall, my mom’s breast cancer returned, and she began therapy.
My word for 2023 was decrease, and there were plenty of moments when it sure felt like my life was being decreased. Things didn’t go exactly as I wanted them to. Life wasn’t as easy as I wanted it to be. Relationships were hard and at times, grueling work. Fears compounded on top of more fears. My limitations were acutely felt. Most days it seemed like my fingers were being pulled back from people, from things, and from expectations that I so much want to hold on to. As much as our flesh hates being divorced from what it wants, this “peeling back” is always for our spiritual good. In light of that truth, my word for the upcoming year will be: Savor.
Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines savor as, "having experience of; to taste with pleasure; to relish; to delight in.”
I often live as though my life is one big box to check. I usually find myself going from one task to another, eager to complete the job. Groceries need to be bought and meals need to be made. My children need shoes that fit, supplies for school, instruction and training, food in their bellies, and focused time. My husband needs his work clothes cleaned, my attention and affection, meals to eat, and support toward his endeavors. Work needs to be done. The house needs to be managed. Laundry needs to be folded. The floors needs to be vacuumed… and oh yeah, I need to read my Bible.
I check the box and keep moving.
In 2024, I want to move beyond checking boxes and completing tasks, and savor my life and the people in it. I want to smile more when I wash the dishes. I want to listen to my kids laugh and thank God for giving us small joys in a broken world. I do not only want to meet the needs of my family, but relish my family as I work for them. And supremely, when I approach God’s Word, I want it to be more than a discipline; I want it to be a true delight.
The psalmist said to “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8). Consuming the truth of God’s Word is great, but we will not be convinced that God is truly good by consumption only. Gratitude and growing in our trust of God requires the time it takes in uniting our minds with our spiritual taste buds, thinking and meditating on what we have consumed.
So, I plan to be metaphorically chewing in 2024, delighting in all the flavors of God’s gracious gifts to me. Will you join me?
this quote though…
Be unwilling that all the good gifts of God should be swallowed without taste, or maliciously forgotten, but use your palate, know them, and consider them.
― D. H. Mollerus
wrapping it up…
2023 blog posts:
Between the Two Advents
Influencers and the Gospel
When You Can’t Mother the Way You Want To, my post for The Better Mom
What the Resurrection Means for Daily Life
Walking With Scars: Redeeming the Reminders of Brokenness
Let Go and Hang On: A Single Mother’s Perspective, my post for Christian Parenting
My Heart in 80,000 Words, an introduction to my book
Interview:
Finding Joy In Life’s Hardest Seasons, my interview with Rebekah Hargraves
Top 5 (non-fiction) books of 2023:
Being Elisabeth Elliot by Ellen Vaughn
Habits of Grace by David Mathis
Quiet by Naomi Vacaro
Unmet Expectations by Lisa Hughes
Habits of the Household by Justin Whitmel Earley
Top 3 (fiction) books of 2023:
The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
** If you enjoy book reviews, you can check out my bookstagram account, @coffeeandshelfcare where I share my thoughts about my recent reads.
Recipes my family loved in 2023:
Cranberry Rosemary Chicken
Creamy Sausage and Spinach Soup
Hawaiian Shrimp Taco Bowl
BBQ Chicken Salad
Articles I enjoyed in 2023:
Earthly Healing is Fickle
Sorrowful Yet Always Rejoicing
Gospel Meditations for Washing Dishes and Beyond
Will My Husband Still Think I’m Attractive As I Age?
The Baby Who Came to Annihilate Death
On Connecting Everything to God
Songs I played a lot in 2023:
Love Still Bids You Welcome - Skye Peterson
Hesed - Ghost Ship
More Precious Than Gold (Psalm 19) - Worship Initiative
Like a Tree (Psalm 1) - Caroline Cobb
Come Unto Jesus - Laura Story
God of Every Grace - Keith and Kristyn Getty
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