Pausing to Reflect on 2022
Dear Friends,
As I write it is a beautiful, still, autumn day. The air is cold, and the ground is littered with leaves, and although it is not yet Thanksgiving, I am reminded that winter weather does not always adhere to the calendar. I watch the shadows lengthen and the sun dip lower as I try to finish a final trim on my rose hedge. I know I will have to choose between finishing the task as the last rays of the day sink behind me, or stop now, fix a cup of tea, and pause in awe at the beauty of sunset as another day draws to a close. I chose the latter.
I think about this choice to stop and close the day in a pause of wonder, gratitude, and serene solitude, and I am reminded of how many different sunsets I have witnessed. Each one is different because each day is different. No day ever repeats itself. Some days the sun sets behind wispy clouds leaving them gold rimmed and pink hued. Other days it is a golden orb that drops from a great expanse of cloudless sky. It sets in different places in different seasons, moving south on the western horizon until the winter solstice starts it on its journey north again. Each time I watch it set, I am reminded that another day has passed, and on this day, I am also reminded that another season is about to pass, and soon another year will end.
As I think about the year that has passed, I would like to stop and thank you for supporting me by signing up for my newsletter. I have made a slow start back into writing and blogging, so I apologize if you had hoped to hear from me more often. Like most of you, life continues to be busier than I’d like, and it is a continual struggle to live fully in each precious moment and make time in each day to do those things that are important to me. I find I am often looking ahead to the next thing and missing the moment or the season that I am in.
As I watch the sun set and reflect on the year that will quickly be memory, I am not surprised to see it has been a year of both pleasure and pain; a year of delightful surprises and sorrowful disappointments; a year of holding on and letting go; and it has been a year to pause and treasure precious moments and a year in which far more have passed into history unnoticed.
For our family, it has been a year of fresh starts and joyful additions. My youngest son, Jerrod, returned home last November and this has been a year of reconnection and healing and the beginning of a new season in his life. My daughter, Jennifer, and her husband, Josh, were blessed with the addition of a healthy baby girl born in March. She joined her older brother and sister who also have spring birthdays and turned 6 and 4 soon after her arrival. My son, Jacob, was blessed with a wife and stepdaughter when he married his beloved Rachel on July 2nd, both of whom I gladly welcomed into my heart. I have much for which to be thankful!
Image Removed by Request
Jennifer, Josh, and their family at Old Fashioned Settlers Day
As you know, I have also made a fresh start this year with a new website and a venture back into the world of written words that I love. I feel I have experienced much in life and so I divided my website into three main topics. I initially intended to write a quarterly newsletter for each topic, but I have found that goal to be unattainable in this season of my life. However, I was surprised that everyone who signed up to receive emails from me checked all three topics, so I am delighted and relieved to be able to consolidate my emails – which have been non-existent until now – into one newsletter. If you are reading this online and have not signed up for my newsletter and would like to, click here. If you thought you signed up and never received this in your inbox, please sign up again. It seems there were a few email addresses I did not get. Perhaps in 2023, I will have a quarterly newsletter – but no promises.
I have not posted often, but if you have missed a few posts, there are links below to the posts I have written. There you will find a brief description of each post and links to all the posts in that category.
Our family is still growing, struggling, and healing. At Jacob’s wedding in July, we were all together in one place for the first time in eight years!
I wish I could invite each of you to sit down at my kitchen table, pour you a cup of coffee (or tea if you prefer), and enjoy a sweet time of fellowship as we reflect on our year. I wish I could offer you some small gift to let you know how much you are loved and valued. However, the best thing I have to offer are my words, so this newsletter is my gift to you. I hope my reflections remind you to pause and live fully in the moment, to be thankful for another day, and to treasure the season you are in right now.
Wishing you the blessing of His peace and presence this holiday season and in the coming year!
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