Here I sit, on the cusp of 2012, with my cup 'o java and a quiet house. I can't help but reflect over the last year and as I do, I know it has been the hardest year I've known. It's a good thing my beautiful daughter offered to write the Christmas letter this year. I might have just written something like, "it was a crappy year..." Thankfully, for everyone, she wrote the letter instead. It was beautiful and poignant, and said what our hearts felt. Here's a quick recap of the year mixed in with some of my lessons on the way:
~ Idols are barbed hooked things that tear jagged in both directions and removal is bloody. Survival rates are minimal and scarring is unavoidable.
~Friends are not always that.
~ I put my daughter on a plane bound for college in another country.
~My husband of 23 years had to take a job 3 states and over 1,000 miles away.
~People will surprise you.
~Falling can be spectacular, although I do not recommend it.
~ My son developed a heart disorder.
~No matter what anyone says, hitting bottom is better than falling.
~ The need for approval is a noxious weed and is never satisfied with a small plot of land.
~I am worse than I ever thought.
~I am loved more than I ever dreamed.
~Asking for help can be the hardest thing.
~Some friends are all that and it's okay when they're not.
~Daughter is home for Christmas.
~Son is healed.
~Husband received promotion.
~I am approved by the One who matters.
~I count friendship precious and have learned to choose more carefully.
~perfectly imperfect is just fine with me
~churches are made up of people who disappoint
~people, just like me
~the trek back to Eden is a bloody one and we will never quite get there on this side - oh, but we try. I think, more and more, we were made to try.
~what a breath, this life is
~all of my people encounters mark me in some way, leaving some piece of each person with me for eternity.
~I stopped sailing the open waters with my cardboard boat this year - definitely a wise decision.
~failing is part of life
~ giving grace to let others fail is living.
~joy absolutely comes in the morning
~the morning is not necessarily the next day.
