Reflection and the New Year

Happy New Year! I enjoy the days sandwiched between Christmas and the New Year. It always feels natural to do some reflecting on the year behind and to make plans for the year ahead. The reflections I’ve shared are pretty transparent- there’s loss as well as hope and it’s my desire that something written here is helpful to you in some way.

2024 was a very difficult year for myself and my family and if you could have heard my prayers this year, you would have heard me begging God to please let us move out of the “Refinement by fire” phase and into the “Restoration” phase.

I’m tired.

Helplessly watching those you love get trampled by injustice is an exhausting thing to live through and the ripple effects are slow and long lasting.

This year we sold our family home in Virginia. It was cathartic going through all of our things that encapsulated the first half of our lives together and the “growing up” years of our children. I went through each and every scrap and carefully decided what to keep and then could happily let the rest go.

During that time, Troy and I had some lovely, long dinners and lunches with my sister who lives near that house in Virginia. And I don’t think we could have made that move without her help!

Many, MANY years of memories are in that home and we were fortunate and blessed to have had it and the people that we shared it with.

We also let the home in Colorado go. We had a lot of family dinners and watched a lot of beautiful sunrises and sunsets from that house. We had a record breaking snow storm roll through.

Our daughter and son in law run the South Africa Project for our non profit Archangels Project. Because of their hard work and dedication, we saw that project really take off this year. Lives have been completely changed as abandoned children are infused with hope, promise and a future! And one of our happiest memories this year was them calling us to tell us that we’re going to be grandparents in 2025!!

We made the big move overseas. I’m so grateful that our sons were in spaces in their own lives that they packed up and made the leap as well. They’ve been an immense help to us.

I lost the entire contents of my blog.

Winston almost died of a ruptured spleen as soon as we touched down in Italy. We got him to an emergency vet and he was there for almost a week- he had less than 2 minutes to live when we got him to the vet (who spoke no English- but was highly skilled and dedicated).

A company in the US who was hired to take care of some documents for our move, stole our money and never processed the documents.

We went through all sorts of trials and tribulations in the first months of moving to a new country, but no one looked back even once.

There has also been mountains of physical injury this year along with the continuing financial drain and hard work that goes along with the repair and recovery of those injuries.

And now, we welcomed in the new year here in this tiny village, on this beautiful island, that I love more with each passing day. I’ve said it multiple times- it feels like a personal gift. We continue learning to embrace all new things and trying to continue to be resilient as we look to the future.

The below are not resolutions, but mostly personal growth goals and a general direction that I’m pushing towards. Maybe you’ll find that some of them that resonate for your your life as well.

Things I’ve Let go in 2024

This is a random list of the things I’ve let go in 2024. If I’m honest, I’m still working on some of these- but I honestly feel more committed than I’ve ever been. I believe each of us holds so much power to change our course, to carve out a life that we love and that brings us joy. Here’s what I’ve let go this year (or tried to!):

Other peoples misperceptions of me…………Over explaining……….Over apologizing……..Rushing……….Keeping score……..Urgency culture……..Our home…….Time with people who are on auto pilot and lack self awareness…………Time with people who are emotionally immature……..small talk………….fake social norms………ignoring my stress……….overworking………making excuses……..ignoring my own physical, mental or spiritual wellness……ignoring or making excuses for destructive patterns in others (Patterns are truth!)………Colorado……..not working through my fears………toxic social media………being “busy”………hyper vigilance……..hyper independence.

Things I’m Picking up in 2025

This is a lofty list, but again, we hold so much power to shape our own lives which will inevitably help those around us as well. So here is a random list of things I’d like to pick up in 2025:

The realization that I will disappoint people sometimes (and that it’s ok!)…………more glimmers……..more focused gratitude study……….listening to my own intuition………believing in my own potential………a grandson!…….Hope……….being an encouragement to others…………being OK with being misunderstood……..learning to pause more………learning to listen better………valuing my own well being…….Resilience (always working on this one)……..Pilates………stability………more nature……more natural rhythms………more self observation………more growth and expansion……..a sense of belonging………consistency……….more strength training……….more stretching and mobility………more focused journaling……..more focused Bible study……….a better prayer life.

Lastly…

If you have to go through a time of fighting and struggle you won’t find a better team than I have. I’m grateful for the people I have around me. We lean on each other and shoulder our burdens together. There will always be good times and bad times for all of us. Times of immense joy and happiness as well as times of immense sadness and grief. It is the human existence- it’s real and it’s raw- and for Believers, it turns us to the hope that is found in our Savior, Jesus Christ.

And to those in this world who deliberately use every ounce of their intellect and determination to harm others, I give you the stark words of the late, great Johnny Cash:

“Well you may throw your rock and hide your hand
Workin’ in the dark against your fellow man
But as sure as God made black and white
What’s down in the dark will be brought to the light

You can run on for a long time
But sooner or later God’ll cut you down.”

Welcome 2025 !

If you want to know more about our life in this 10th century village you may want to start with this post.

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