Lessons from 2011

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.