Best Books of 2022

It’s no secret that I love books and I love reading. I participate in the GoodReads Reading Challenge every year. Each year I type in how many books I believe I will read over the next 365 days. Most years I haven’t quite met my goal but this year I was able to get over 50 books completed!

It’s always difficult for me to choose a favorite…it’s kind of like choosing a favorite child. But there were a few reads that stood out to me for various reasons and I’ve given a brief review below of some of my favorites. I grouped them into categories {children’s/young adult, non-fiction, fiction}.

Just a quick note: I do read some difficult topics. Books that end sad don’t bother me as long as the ending makes sense with the story/plot/character development. I also like reading about lesser-known parts of history and history is rarely flowers and butterflies. I try to avoid books with graphic scenes of sex, violence, or loads of bad language. I don’t finish all the books I start, especially if I get into it and it’s wildly inappropriate. All that to say, I don’t endorse everything in the books listed below or agree with the worldview presented. But I believe it’s important and can be helpful to read things you don’t completely agree with and to work out for yourself what the problem is. It’s helped me to see what a difference a Christian worldview makes in every corner of our lives.

Children’s/Young Adult

“A Place to Hang the Moon” by Kate Albus
Three siblings, who recently lost their grandmother and guardian, are evacuated to the country before the London blitz. They hope to find a “forever” home, the type of belonging they’ve read about it their favorite books. But the families who take them in have other ideas. From bullying children to uncaring adults, the children find refuge at the village library and with the librarian who is an outcast for her own reasons. Together, the children and the librarian learn valuable lessons about family, courage, and the power of reading. My 11 year old and I loved this book. I might have teared up at the end. This would also be a good read aloud.

“The Swallow’s Flight” by Hilary McKay
In a story that spans countries and years, we are introduced to four children and one dog. How their stories weave together is a beautiful picture of not judging based on appearances, the power of showing kindness to all, holding friends tight, and not giving up in the face of evil. This is another book I read with my 11 year old and I think she liked it more than the previous book. She went on to read several other books by the same author that I never got around to. This is another World War 2 story from England and Germany.

“The Adventures of Miss Petitfour” by Anne Michaels, ill. by Emma Block
Miss Petitfour lives in a small fictional village in England with her 16 cats. Her favorite thing is adventuring by grabbing a tablecloth at the corners and letting the wind take her and her cats away! Each of the chapters is a different adventure filled with unexpected characters. Each cat has its own personality and contributes to the stories in different ways. There are also many new vocabulary words {think like Fancy Nancy and her fancy words}. I laughed out loud reading this to my kids. It’s fanciful and fun. The watercolor illustrations are delightful and add to the whimsy of the stories.

Good Dog series by Cam Higgins, ill. by Ariel Landy
My eight year old has recently started doing more independent reading and this series is one of his favorites. It is a beginner chapter book series about a dog on a farm who has adventures with all the different barnyard animals. There are themes of friendship, courage, humility, and thinking of others. So far, my son has read the first five out loud to me and he’s requested we buy the rest of the series.

Non-Fiction

“Remember” by Lisa Genova
Why do we forget things? Why are other things permanently cemented in our minds? Genova is known for her novels about neurological issues but in this non-fiction book, she writes in layman’s terms what our brain is doing, the different types of things we remember, and why there are some things we can’t forget. For being a book about a technical thing {memory}, it’s incredibly easy to read and understand. Genova writes in a novel-type style and slowly explains the ins and outs of her subject in fascinating detail without losing her readers in the bushes. Highly recommend!

“Cultural Counterfeits” by Jen Oshman
I read this because I often feel at a loss with how to talk about current cultural issues that affect women. Oshman breaks down how we got here, why each issue is important to be educated on, and gives loving yet biblically sound advice. She admits from the beginning that she struggled with wanting to write this book because she knew it would have a lot of hard truth; that people she knew would disagree with her. But I’m so glad she pressed on and faithfully studied what the Bible teaches on these issues and presents them with clarity.

“Find the Good” by Heather Lende
Lende is a small town obituary writer for the local paper and this short book takes some of the people she’s met, people she’s remembered in print, and the lessons she’s learned from a life of reflecting on the ups and downs of others’ lives. This is not a Christian book and some of the author’s beliefs or observations I was not in agreement with but I did smile and nod a few times, as she recounts the value each life has, the memories tied to a place or time, and how that can continue to shape who we become.

Adult Fiction

“The Last Year of the War” by Susan Meissner
Did you know German immigrants who were “red flagged” in America during World War 2 were sent to detention camps with the Japanese and some of them were deported back to Germany? I had no idea! Again, those little known fascinating historical facts! This book follows a girl whose parents immigrated to America in the 1920s but never became citizens. After a series of events her father wishes he could change, the family is sent to Texas where she meets a Japanese girl, born in America like her, and wondering when life will return to normal. Unfortunately, her family is sent back to Germany — a place she’s never been, surrounded by a language she doesn’t know — during the final year of the war. The course of her life is forever changed as she wonders about her friend, suffers through bombings and loss, and ultimately does whatever she believes will get her home to America. I was so moved by and wrapped into this story. Meissner is a master at first person writing and historical detail. I was invested from the beginning to the end.

“Salt to the Sea” by Ruta Sepetys
Have the tissues handy! This story takes place toward the end of World War 2 as Eastern Europeans are fleeing toward Germany to avoid the Soviets. Several stories weave together and the histories of the characters are gradually revealed through the journey towards the sea. The fact that this historical tragedy was covered up, ignored, forgotten for so many years is heartrending. I don’t want to give away spoilers but honestly, I couldn’t put this book down. It’s technically classified as a young adult historical fiction but it has some dark themes that I would suggest for older more mature readers. If you want something with the same gasp factor that’s not WW2, check out “I Must Betray You” by the same author. This story dives into Romania just before the revolution of 1989, a country that was never part of the Soviet Union but whose people were ruled by terror, surveillance, and control.

I could go on and on but these were my favorites from this year. If you want to see my full list of what I read in 2022 — or all 1,000+ books I’ve read since joining GoodReads, check out my profile. I don’t always give long written reviews unless I really loved it or there was something that bothered me or I need to explain my ranking. Happy reading in 2023!

Photo by Javier Martinez on Unsplash

The Growing Need for Patience

Patience, waiting, slowing down. All concepts that seem foreign to our day and age.

Everything is about instant gratification, from movies on demand to music downloads in seconds. We want what we want NOW! In fact if our computer is a little slower than normal at powering up or the Internet has to search for content, we grow frustrated and either complain or abandon the project. I’ve even seen a commercial that was advertising our impatience as a society to promote their product.

Unfortunately, impatience is not a virtue. As usual, the nature that comes to us easily is the one we need to fight against. I'm as guilty as the next person when it comes to impatience. But our lives are surrounded in the necessity to stop and wait. And it's good for us to not have everything we want instantly. It makes us realize we aren't in control, that we need to work and achieve goals over time.

I have recently been convicted that I need to pray for patience. I can't just decide to wait and the struggle is over. I have to continually be seeking God's timing and will and waiting for Him to reveal what He has for me. I know what I want Him to do but it's not up to me. I think we can all remember a time in our lives when we seemed to wait forever before we saw God's leading but now looking back, we realize the timing was perfect and we would have messed it up had we charged through with our plans.

As we get closer to the new year, I've been thinking of things I want to do differently and trying to adopt good habits now to carry over. Prov. 3:5-7 doesn't necessarily say "wait" but it does talk about trust and God guiding our steps.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.

In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.

We often forget verse 7 but it’s an important reminder. If we are thinking too highly of ourselves or of our ability to control a situation, we will struggle to demonstrate patience. Gardening has been a wonderful way to help me “grow” {wink, wink} in patience.

Toward the middle of spring, Tommy borrowed a tiller and over turned a section of grass in our yard. He added a metal border to set the boundary and I got on my hands and knees, filling wheelbarrows full of grass chunks that I couldn’t breakdown. I hoed the dirt, leveled it off, and started sprinkling seeds.

I had no reason or pattern to my scattering. I just wanted flowers to fill every corner. I gave the dirt and seeds a gentle sprinkle of water. Each day I wandered out and gazed at my patch of dirt. It wasn’t long before I saw a sprout but it was a weed! Pluck, out it came!

But slowly, gradually, I saw shoots that I recognized as the stalk of a zinnia or cosmos. And they slowly got taller. They gently held up buds waiting to blossom. Finally, at the end of the summer, my little corner garden was one wild expanse of color! But it took patience. And in the waiting I still needed to water the sprouts, I pulled out the weeds, I dug out the grass that slipped under the metal border.

Was it worth it? Definitely! Am I dreaming about next year’s flowers? Absolutely!

Waiting isn’t easy. It’s not a skill that is learned once and never revisited. But it is worth it.

Photo by Daniel Oberg on Unsplash

Friendship

I’ve said it before and I’ll repeat it my entire life: I have wonderful friends.

Life is never without drama but for the majority of my life, I have experienced encouraging, uplifting, helpful friendships. And as I’ve gotten older, I feel the importance and value of treasuring the relationships I have. I am aware many of my peers have pain and heartache to look back on and as I walk with my pre-teen daughter {she’s told me the correct term is “tween”}, I’ve been reminded of how difficult friend transitions can be.

No matter what age we are, it’s difficult to begin again. To find people we click with, who get our sense of humor, who enjoy the same activities, who give us hard truth when we need it and listen when we grieve. True friends that will stand by you through laughter and heartache. That will build memories and forgive the disagreements.

I’ve also been astounded to realize how unlikely some of my friendships are. I don’t have cookiecutter friends; they have different strengths, talents, pet peeves, and struggles. And they are also not all like me. Some of my friends are not into reading {I know, gasp!}, one friend doesn’t like donuts or desserts with fruit in them, several of my friends are competitive {I’ll include a few in-laws here}, and one friend, in a truly mind-shattering moment in high school, thought she was being original in creating a football team called the Pittsburgh Steelers {face palm, for sure!}. I have friends talented in music, baking, decorating, art and all things creative.

My point is, part of the benefit of friendship is what we learn and teach and give each other. It doesn’t mean I have to give up donuts or never talk about books — because both of those sound impossible. But I can discover new things, like trying audiobooks or cooking a new recipe. I can encourage them with where they are while they cheer me on in my place of ministry.

My life is richer and fuller because of my friendships. They are worth every minute, every bit of energy I invest. I never take them for granted and I am truly grateful.

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A Summer in Proverbs

In May, I wrapped up a Bible study with some ladies. We had been going through Proverbs for several months and as we ended, I realized I was only starting to understand it. There are so many themes and pictures and repeated ideas.

So I decided for the next three months {June, July, August} I would read a chapter in Proverbs a day, make notes, study deeper into word meanings and comparisons. So over the course of the summer, I read Proverbs three times. Here’s {some} of what I learned:

1. The line between the wicked and the righteous is distinct. There is no straddling a fence when Proverbs talks about these two. The evil choose one path/decisions that lead to death and the righteous choose the opposite path/decisions that lead to life.

2. The mouth is important to God! I was amazed at how much this one book had to say about the mouth, tongue, lips, gossip, etc. Sometimes it was phrased in terms of, “Speak like this…” Other times, it was clear warning, “The fool speaks…” I was very convicted by these verses about how we use words and what we say. I anticipate a deeper study into just this aspect of Proverbs in my future!

3. The five types of fools. As I read several different translations of Proverbs, I noticed several words were used to reference a fool or a foolish person. My dad {who was teaching Proverbs in Sunday School} gave a very helpful breakdown of how five words for a foolish person were different from each other. They ranged from a simple ignorance to a blatant turning from God. I found it very helpful to keep these in mind while I read.

4. I still have a lot to learn! One would think reading the same thing three months in a row would give me a leg up! And while I do feel like I learned a lot and understand Proverbs better than I did before, I still found myself, reading chapter 28 and thinking, “This seems familiar, what chapter was this already in? What does that word mean?” Inexhaustible is definitely a word I would use to describe reading and learning from the Bible!

Now that the summer of Proverbs has ended, I’m slowly reading through Psalms and studying it as time allows and keeping up with my chronological study. There’s always something to learn!

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Cling to the Rock

Our family recently returned from a vacation in Hawaii. My husband and I had been 15 years ago but this was the first time for our kids. We filled our days with beaches, the pool, hikes, and trying as many local fruits as possible.

After the thrill of stepping in the Pacific and running up and down the beach to avoid oncoming waves, my son came to me a little disheartened.

“I see fish and things in the sand but the waves keep coming and I loose them.” I assured him we would go to a place where the waves wouldn’t be a problem. He looked doubtful.

The next day, we went to a beautiful lagoon that was by several large resorts. {Side note: our local Hawaiian friends told us no one can own beaches in Hawaii, all beaches are open for anyone to use even “on resort property.”} We parked the car, walked up a grassy hill, and down into the sand. After a layer of sunscreen, the kids made a beeline for the water. And they instantly noticed something: no waves. The water was completely calm.

This manmade cove or lagoon had rocks piled against the ocean side, breaking the waves and keeping the water inside the cove calm and shallow. There were fish, crabs, even a sea cucumber. It was a great place to learn to snorkel and we built sand castles, swam in circles, and enjoyed the afternoon.

The thing was, on the other side of that rock barrier, waves crashed and hit and were just as rough as ever. The rocks didn’t keep the waves from being waves, they simply protected those in the cove.

As I sat on the beach, happily digging and watching the kids, I couldn’t help but think about all the Psalms that mention God as our Rock. We usually think of this in terms of God’s strength and solidness, a firm foundation we can trust in. But it also points us to how he protects us. The waves of the world are constant and relentless. Sin pounds at us from all sides. It can be just as exhausting as standing up to physical waves all day. But when we seek shelter in the Rock of our Salvation {God}, we can hide behind him and find peace and rest from the waves.

Meditate on these words from Psalm 62:

1 I am at rest in God alone;

my salvation comes from Him.

2 He alone is my rock and my salvation,

my stronghold; I will never be shaken.

No matter how high those waves struck on that Hawaiian beach, we were safe behind the rocks that made our lagoon. We didn’t even think about the possibility of the tide pulling us deeper into the water or the waves knocking us down. We were happy, secure, and enjoying the beauty around us.

God does the same. Life isn’t perfect or trouble free because we’re clinging to the Rock but we know he’s there. We know the sin and wickedness of the world can’t move him. We know we can always find refuge in him. When you feel as if the waves are pulling you away from the safety of the Rock, read Psalm 91. God is our refuge, our fortress. In him we can trust.

Photo by Wei Zeng on Unsplash

Why We Read the Bible

I know hard things aren’t bad; in fact, many times it’s the difficult, frustrating things that grow us the most. But if we had a choice, I think we would gravitate toward the easy side of things. I think this is also true of our Christian growth. We WANT to be more biblically literate, we WANT to have a close relationship with God, we WANT to have wisdom for how to live. But those take time, effort, energy. It doesn’t happen overnight or reading the Bible one morning. It takes commitment for the long haul {your lifetime}. You will read hard truths, you will come across things that take extra time and study to understand. But you will grow.

I believe Bible reading and prayer are two of the hardest disciplines we need to cultivate. In theory, they sound so easy but in practice, it takes commitment and a conscious decision to include both of these in your day.

One of the most helpful things for me to remember when I’m struggling with Bible reading is that God wants me to know him. He gave us the Bible so we could know him personally, so we would know how to live in this world and what he has promised. This isn’t an impossible task set before us by an impersonal God. It is an invitation to grow closer to the One who created all things. Yes, maybe it’s hard some days but it’s worth every effort and every moment of time.

I’ve found it the most difficult to read my Bible when it becomes a task, a checklist instead of something I’m looking forward to. So how do I look forward to it? Below are some ideas.

• I always have a notebook with me when I read the Bible. I write down questions I have about the passage, verses that stick out to me, and things I hadn’t noticed before. This helps keep my mind engaged and it keeps familiar passages/stories fresh.

• I look for what the section I’m reading is teaching about God. When I was younger, I was always curious why God included some things and not others. Out of all the history of the Israelites or miracles of Jesus, why were these given to the biblical writers to record as inspired? God doesn’t do anything on accident or mistake. So what we have in the Bible has been given for a purpose: to teach us about God and who he is compared to who we are. {NOTE: this is one of the things I love about The Bible Recap podcast and book. The host/author offers a “God Shot” of what in that day’s reading taught her about God. It’s so helpful!}

• Some days when I know it’s going to be crazy, I choose to listen to my Bible app for that day’s reading. This engages my mind in a different way than reading and it keeps me in the Word even if I know I won’t have time to sit a read. I also like having it on for my kids to listen to.

• Ask a friend to keep you accountable or have someone you can text each day with one verse or thought from that day’s reading. I love hearing what my friends are reading and learning from the Bible and I often benefit from their insights.

Imagine a world without the Bible. It truly is an amazing gift from God that we can read, listen to, and share it. But it won’t just happen. We need to make the decision to include it in our day and then to live out the principles we discover. I’d love to hear what you are reading! Comment below and let’s encourage each other on!

.Photo by Rachel Strong on Unsplash

The Joy of a Garden

I am not an avid gardener.

I know people who live and breathe plants. They know flower varieties by sight, the best things to plant in their growing zone, which vegetables prefer which soil, research and read, begin preparation months before the planting. They are true plant people. And I respect them and their acquired wisdom on all things green.

I am more of a flower gardener than a food gardener. I love the beauty of bursting blooms more than the practicality of growing useful food. But even then, I base what I grow on looks, ease of planting and upkeep, and if it’s an annual or perennial. These are my determining factors in what I will spend my time growing.

For example. after reading Floret Flowers book on dahlias, I was in love…until I tried growing them. The few tubers I put in that spring did fabulous; they produced huge, gorgeous blooms. But in my zone, it was recommended that I dig up the tubers and store them, covered in dirt, in a place that wouldn’t reach freezing or in a fridge. Then in the spring, I would need to replant the tubers, hoping they didn’t rot over the winter, and restart the process in the fall. Dahlias suddenly became the divas of my garden.

I gave it a try, carefully digging up the tubers, reading how deep and what kind of pot to keep them happy in over winter, storing them in my garage, and crossing my fingers for spring. None of them made it. That spring, I retrieved my precious tubers to find them shriveled. I planted them with wishful thinking but of course nothing happened. No beautiful blooms. All my efforts were wasted.

I made the decision to not try again, which some may think is giving up too soon, but I figured there were plenty of other flowers to set my attention to. Cosmos and zinnias were my next efforts. I once again was extremely pleased with the beauty and abundance of the seeds I scattered that quickly took root and sprouted. I was even more pleased the next year when cosmos shot up on their own, no effort from me required.

You see, as much as I love gardening, I love low maintenance gardening. The bursts of color, the unique petals and blooms, the joy of watching plants sprout higher, higher, and then budding and flourishing. I love it. But not enough to plant diva dahlias and pour time and money into flowers that don’t appreciate the effort. {I kid, but you get the point.}

Whatever type of gardener you are — flower, vegetable, high maintenance, low maintenance, the enjoy other people’s gardens gardener — I hope you spend time marveling at creation. I can’t walk outside and see a flower without noting the variations God put in place. Even within a flower “kind” like roses; so many colors, petal types, even the smells differ. I may be a low maintenance, keep it simple gardener, but I still enjoy the beauty God has made and the small part I can take in cultivating some of that beauty.

Consider these words from Psalm 8:

1 O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.

2 Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger.

3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,

4 what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?

5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.

6 You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet,

7 all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field,

8 the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

9 O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

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The Blessing of Friendship

For all my introverted ways, I need friends.

I have had some incredible friends in my life and still do. I’ve had friendships that hurt and disappointed and didn’t last. But I’ve also had relationships that are still going strong decades later.

What is it about friends that is so vital? When we face things like the 2020 quarantine and forced isolation, why is it so hard, even for a person who would rather sit and read than party?

One essential piece is that God created us to need community. Have you considered the one another statements from the Bible? It’s impossible to live those out in solitude. We are to be encouraging and exhorting one another in the Lord. We also see in Proverbs that we can sharpen each other through our friendships (27:17).

Friends allow us to remember and reflect on things from the past. I have friends who, with a simple statement they immediately know what I’m referencing, how I’m feeling, what I mean. They have cried tears of joy and sorrow with me. They have spoken hard truths when I needed to hear them and listened quietly when I needed to process my thoughts aloud.

In short, friends are a gift. And when we find ourselves suddenly dealing with the world without their support, we easily feel the void. My children love playdates and park picnics and any excuse to gather with friends. April of 2020 was the slowest month of their lives. When we finally arranged a videocall with some of their friends, the laughter and smiles from that 15 minute call lasted for hours. The gloom and frustration of the morning melted away with one conversation from their friends.

I have not always been a good friend. I’ve forgotten important dates, spoken too harshly, criticized when I should have listened. But I have patient friends who continue to care about me, forgive when it’s needed, rebuke when it’s necessary, point me to Christ always.

Friends are a blessing I don’t take for granted. Miles separate us and years continue to pass. We enter new phases of life and go though different trials. But I’m thankful for the people that are in my life, encouraging me and occasionally dragging me away from my stack of books.

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Longing for Home

Recently I was walking around my neighborhood with my four-year-old who had chosen to scooter. After about 15 minutes, she declared her legs were giving out and she just couldn’t go on. We stopped for a minute to rest and than I told her we were on our street. We were almost home.

She immediately began singing the chorus to “Almost Home” by Matt Papa and Matt Boswell. It’s become a favorite of hers, although she doesn’t understand it’s talking about something much better than just our physical home. The song is urging Christians to keep fighting and pressing on here knowing heaven — our eternal home — awaits.

While she eagerly stood on her scooter, swinging her left leg to hit the pavement and send her down the sidewalk, I thought about the song she continued to sing. And as her volume got louder the closer we came to our house, I wondered if our enthusiasm for heaven is as exuberant as that little girl cruising into the driveway.

It’s interesting to me that many Christians have recently begun to talk about longing for heaven because things are so bad in our broken world. But really, even if everything was perfect here, our true desire should be heaven, right? Eternity in the Lord’s presence, free from the distractions of this world, nothing tarnished by sin.

You see, this world has been flawed since Adam and Eve chose the fruit over obedience. People have been longing for heaven and communion with God for thousands of years, not only based on what was happening around them but because they believed eternity with God was better than anything a sinful world could give.

But it’s very easy to get used to this world and it can be difficult to long for something that’s completely foreign: a sinless existence. I remember as a child, thinking of heaven in terms of just like earth but with nothing bad. But as I got older, I realized how much sin has polluted and corrupted everything — even things we might consider good or nice have a shade of this fallen world about them. It’s difficult to imagine a place perfect, whole, sinless.

And it’s incredibly easy to get used to what is around us, what we are familiar with, the only thing we know. Yet in the heart of every believer should be a longing, a fervent desire for our eternal home. Even though we’ve never seen it, we should have an excited anticipation for what God has promised.

If you aren’t familiar with the song I mentioned above, I encourage you to look for it on Spotify, Apple Music, wherever you listen to tunes. It’s a joyful, encouraging reminder that this place is temporary; it may be dark but dawn is coming. Press on, Christian, we’re almost home.

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What is Success?

One of the hardest things in my writing journey is the waiting.

I outline, I write, I research, I pray about, I think about, I talk about. Writing is something I only have small amounts of time to dive in and do yet I’m always thinking about how to phrase sentences, how to word my thoughts so they’ll make sense to others.

I dictate into my phone app while folding laundry, I journal while sitting by my kids at bedtime, I underline and mark quotes while reading. The topics I’m passionate about writing on never leave my mind, even while I’m focusing on other things.

But for all the writing, sharing, and talking, I don’t know how all those thoughts and musings will turn out. Will one person read my blog post? Will the manuscript I’m working on ever be a book in someone’s hands? Will my words make a difference to anyone? There are a lot of writers out there, many who communicate with greater clarity than I do. What will make someone want to read my ramblings?

One thing I’m learning about any creative endeavor — painting, drawing, sewing, writing, music, anything creative — is the effort isn’t wasted, even if it seems like no one cares. And why? Because every creative endeavor I do is changing me. I am learning, even if no one else is coming along for the ride.

Last year, when I challenged myself to draw a doodle a day, I wanted to see if I could actually do it. Could I draw something that others would be able to recognize? I definitely had a few rough ones, doodles that I grimaced at. But through them, I learned. I learned I draw too small, where to put lines, how to make shadows, the realism of plants not being symmetrical. And I took that acquired knowledge and made the next doodle better.

It was just as much about me trying to learn a new skill as me sharing beauty with others. Because not all those efforts were beautiful. But they were still worth doing. And I’m learning that the same is true about writing.

I might not achieve writing success by the world’s standards — a best selling author, published in multiple languages, books in all the stores. Maybe it’ll come down to me self publishing. Maybe it’ll always be this small blog. But the lessons I’m learning, the things I ponder and pray about and research are benefitting me. The things I learn about parenting are helping me steward my motherhood and disciple my children. I’m interacting with friends and women in my immediate circle of influence and learning from them.

Nothing is wasted. Instead of wishing for a different kind of success, I am learning to appreciate these moments and grow from them.

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Psalms for Rest

I usually don’t feel anxious. I often don’t realize I’m worried or struggling with something until it suddenly occurs to me that I’m not sleeping, I’m constantly thinking about the same thing, I have a headache, I feel irritable.

Anxiety has a way of sneaking in and getting comfortable in our lives, slowly retraining our minds and attitudes until it seems normal. We don’t remember NOT feeling nervous and worried. We don’t believe we can get out of it.

That’s one of the reasons I love the Psalms. So many of them calm my fears and point me to the truth of God’s character. Instead of dwelling on my worries, I can recite Scripture or sometimes sing it. If you are anxious about the future or overwhelmed in current circumstances, please read and dwell on the following Psalms. I know they will bring comfort and peace.

Psalm 4:8 In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

Psalm 40:1-2 I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. 2He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.

Psalm 62:5-8 For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. 6He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. 7On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God. 8Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.

Psalm 119: 147-149 I rise before dawn and cry for help; I hope in your words. 148My eyes are awake before the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promise. 149Hear my voice according to your steadfast love; O Lord, according to your justice give me life.

Psalm 121 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.

Psalm 136 is a reminder of all God did in Israel’s past and that “his steadfast love endures forever.”

This is just a small sampling. There are so many other Psalms I could have included but had to limit for space. Open your Bible today and seek him. Rest in all he has done and is doing and will do. Great is our Lord!!

Photo by Kien Do on Unsplash

Where Do You Run?

I’ve been doodling, coloring, and helping my kids paint most of today. It was snowing so we needed something fun and creative and I wanted to make name cards for Easter lunch. It seemed like a good day to stay inside and relax!

I turned on my Rest - Vocals playlist on Spotify and we were singing along while we crafted. The kids ate lunch and headed off to play, leaving me to finish my project. The song “Jesus Strong and Kind” from CityAlight came on and as I colored, I thought about the truth I was hearing.

Jesus said that if I thirst
I should come to Him
No one else can satisfy
I should come to Him

Jesus said, if I am weak
I should come to Him
No one else can be my strength
I should come to Him

Jesus said that if I fear
I should come to Him
No one else can be my shield
I should come to Him

Then the chorus:

For the Lord is good and faithful
He will keep us day and night
We can always run to Jesus
Jesus, strong and kind

As I sang along and thought about the words, I thought about all the things this world offers that we are tempted to “run to” or trust. Financial security, perfect health, secure job, comforting family. While these things aren’t bad and are certainly things to be grateful for, when they become what we seek to keep our lives going or when we trust them to get us through hardships without first crying out to the Lord, we are neglecting our first and strongest line of defense.

No one else can satisfy, no one else can give us strength, no one else can guard us. Only Jesus offers what will ultimately matter — true rest in him. True peace in him. One of the things that struck me anew in these verses is that not only is Jesus strong enough to bear our sins on the cross. He is also kind or loving enough to want to. He isn’t just a nice guy and good example without power or ability to help in our troubles. He is strong AND kind AND loving AND faithful AND….

Why would we seek after anything else when we face trials? Why would we think anyone else can help us how we need help?

If you are struggling with running to God with your trials, I encourage you to read the Psalms which are filled with beautiful pictures of crying out to God when hope seems far and finding strength and mercy.

Photo by Karsten Wurth on Unsplash

Words for Jesus, Strong and Kind:

Songwriters: Colin Buchanan / Michael Farren / Rich Thompson / Jonny Robinson

Jesus, Strong and Kind lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Pty. Ltd., Farren Love And War Publishing, Integrity's Alleluia! Music, Cityalight Music

Reading Time!

If you know me even the slightest bit, you know I love reading. I love books. I love words and how they come together to make people laugh, cry, think, learn, and experience new things.

The power of the written word is something I think some people underestimate. This might just be me — because I’ve been told I remember way too many things — but I remember sitting on my daybed with a stack of Nancy Drew books and not moving all afternoon. I remember carrying Gone with the Wind outside and sitting under the apple tree for hours reading. I got through the first semester of high school by devouring The Count of Monte Cristo on the wooden swing in our backyard. And I stayed up way too late one night to finish Crime and Punishment as a high school senior.

I have very vivid memories tied to when and where I read certain books. I remember the emotions I felt, the parts that confused me, the French and Russian names I stumbled over. Words and the ideas conveyed through those words have changed and shaped me in ways movies haven’t.

My oldest is ten years old and just as avid a reader as I was/am. She’s definitely stretched herself more than I did at her age; she’s already polished off all the Jane Austen novels, A Little Princess, and is currently deep in Anne of Green Gables, plus reading quite of stack of more recently written books. She set a goal of reading 25 books this year…she just finished her 24th so we’re upping the challenge to 50 books this year!!

I love talking about books with her; what she thought of them, her favorite parts and why, words she didn’t understand in context. I love seeing her mind grow through these book interactions and I’m enjoying the journey with her.

People often ask me how I continue, as a homeschooling mom, to read book after book. It’s not because I’m just sitting on the couch all day! But it is a priority for me. While others binge watch a show, I choose to read. Instead of shopping, I read. It’s not a magic formula. It’s an intentional choice to make time for reading when what I need to do is finished. It’s relaxing and enjoyable for me. Here are a few things that help me, maybe they’ll help you also.

1. Read in the small moments. I’ve said this before, but if I’m just stirring something for dinner in a pot, I will read while I do it! Now if I’m doing something that requires my attention {chopping, measuring, etc.} then I keep my focus on the cooking. But if I’m waiting for rice to finish cooking or the InstantPot to beep, chances are I’ll sneak a few pages in.

2. Read while the kids fall asleep. My younger kids are notorious for not wanting to be alone. They want to know I’m close by, not across the hall, but in their room while they fall asleep. So after I read a bedtime story aloud {I’m currently reading Bear Grylls survival series to my son}, I’ll sit on the floor and get some stretches in while I read. This time is golden. It helps me slow down before bed, the house is quiet, and I can fully focus on what I’m reading.

3. Read during the kids’ activities. When I sit with my children for their piano lesson, I take a book with me. I can still hear what’s going, what we need to work on at home, interact with the teacher as needed, but I’m using the other moments in that hour to read, not scroll my phone.

4. Read, don’t scroll! Which leads us to this point: when you find yourself reaching for your phone when you don’t really need to, pick up a book instead! If you sit in carline, at the sideline of soccer practice, waiting for your curbside grocery delivery, take a book with you. These are moments we have trained ourselves to think of as small, inconsequential blocks of time that aren’t good for anything but catching up on memes and Instagram. I get it. I’ve done it. But honestly, you can read a lot in those moments. If that means you keep one book in your car so you don’t have to remember to grab one, do it!

5. Read what you love. If you struggle to read, start with something that interests you. Whenever I read a historical novel, I will inevitably read a non fiction book about that time period/event after. Even if it’s something I hadn’t been interested in before, experiencing it through the eyes of a novel with characters and a story can make it intriguing enough to make me want more. This happened with the children’s blizzard, the depression, the Spanish flu, immigrants coming through Ellis Island, and the Revolutionary War. I read a novel, my interest was piqued, and I went in search of more.

6. Read a variety. I’m a read-more-than-one-book-at-a-time girl. I usually have a fiction, nonfiction, Christian living, light read, and maybe biography going at the same time. This way, no matter what my mood is, I have something to read!! Some days, if the bad news comes pouring in and the weight of the world is too much, I don’t want to read about the suffering of child laborers in Victorian England, no matter how interesting the story is. On those days, I want a book that encourages me and helps me dig into my Bible study more. If my kids have asked about a certain time period, I may feel like reading about it on my level. If I’ve been curious about how to organize, clean, or decorate my home, if I’m interested in pursuing a new hobby, if I’m studying a certain word or topic in the Bible. There are books and words and answers for all these. And I always have a selection on hand.

I hope this helps you look for the little moments in your day as new possibilities to enjoy a book. I didn’t even cover audiobooks {I really struggle with these because I like to see the words to fully focus on them} but I know people who listen while they drive to work or on errands, while they walk through the neighborhood, or while cleaning the house. If you have a hard time reading but not listening, I highly suggest looking into audiobooks. Most books are available this way now and many libraries offer them for free, either on CD or to download to an audio app.

We never stop learning and books are an excellent way to stretch the mind. If you’re interested in what I’ve read/am reading, check out my GoodReads profile and follow along! You can see all the books {read and want to read} in reverse alphabetical order by author or you can look under certain bookshelves to see what I’ve read/want to read in that category!

Photo by Vladimir Mokry on Unsplash

The Value of Trying

Does anyone else have trouble trying something new?

I have recently been encouraging my kids to try new things: new foods, new activities, new skills. And I’m always met with at least some resistance. “Why try something new?” they ask. “What does it matter?”

To be honest, I’m sometimes right there with them. I would rather make a familiar recipe than try something that might fail. I would rather spend my time on something I know I love than be disappointed when I spend all my time attempting a new skill.

It’s not easy to try.

And yet, it’s so important. Without trying something new, we would never grow. We wouldn’t discover new interests or abilities. We wouldn’t learn the value of sometimes failing. Life becomes boring without stretching ourselves on occasion.

But always there’s that fear of failing. No one wants to fail. No one seeks out discouragement. And we often believe the best way to avoid those pitfalls is to not step out of our comfort zones. But that’s not healthy. While we shouldn’t be reckless and simply run into new things for the sake of doing new things, we also shouldn’t be scared of what might happen if we try.

It’s easy to be controlled by fear without realizing it. We might not feel fearful or afraid, and yet our motivation for what we do or don’t do is based on those feelings. Personally, I’ve hung back from certain things because I was afraid of seeming flighty. I know people who have jumped in and tried something, but it only lasted for a few months before they left that and moved to the next thing. While I would admire their confidence in trying new things, I would wonder if they knew what they were really after. If it was more about thrill and the excitement for something new than really wanting to learn or create something of sustainable value.

I didn’t want to jump from thing to thing. So in my indecision and quest to only do what I would stick with, I didn’t do anything. Didn’t learn any new skills, didn’t try anything away from my comfort zone. I was allowing the fear of failure and what people would think of my efforts to keep me from experiencing anything new.

My turning point came when I started following Emily Lex on Instagram. She challenged herself to do a small watercolor painting everyday for a year to improve her drawing and painting. Everyday she posted her paintings and encouraged others to try something they were interested in. I started my Doodle a Day challenge and began watching/practicing watercolor.

When you’ve told yourself you aren’t as good as XYZ or your efforts aren’t as nice as ABC…it’s difficult to see the value in trying AND showing others. As strange as it seems, it takes courage to try something new, knowing you won’t be as good as someone else…at least not in the beginning.

Something I remind my kids {and myself} is that everyone starts as a beginner. Those who we look at and admire — those who play beautiful music, write moving stories, create breathtaking art, pipe perfect frosting roses — they started by trying, attempting something that caught their interest or found enjoyment in. What we don’t see are the hours of practice to play a perfect sonata, the stacks of journals riddled with ideas and words, the paintings that failed, the frosting that fell and cakes that didn’t rise. No one makes progress without trying and no one achieves beauty without failing a few times.

Instead, we should be willing to fail AND intent on learning from that failure. Trying, falling, trying again, and again, and again. But there’s value in it all. In the success at the end and the trying along the way.

Photo by John Mark Arnold on Unsplash

The Running List

I am a list keeper.

Even as a child before I could spell words, I would fill notebooks with lists of squiggles {ask my mom; she remembers throwing away mountains of scribbled paper}.

And once I could write, I was all about journals, lists, to-dos. When I started high school and got my first day planner, I wrote EVERYTHING down. Every assignment, every sports game I attended, who I ate lunch with…I was kind of obsessed.

With each new school year brought a new planner. August became my favorite month. And as I moved into adulthood, lists and planners followed. I have a notebook in my purse at all times, along with several colorful pens. I have a planner and lists on my desk. I keep a separate planner with lists in the schoolroom. I have scraps of paper by my bed,

I’ve found lists to be extremely helpful and use them for so much more than groceries. One of my favorite things to list {just for my own reflection} are gratitudes. The older I get, the more I realize how much there is to be thankful for. And while some of the things I list are incredibly small, the act of writing them down helps me to pay attention to things around me.

This idea isn’t new or unique to me. Books have been written about the value of cultivating thankfulness and recording them in journals or lists or photo snippets. But as with many things, you often don’t really understand the value until you put it into practice for yourself.

I list people, places, things, events, memories. I’ve found when I’m actively looking for things to be grateful for I can go on and on, much longer than I thought. And the simplicity of writing them down in a list means I can pull them out, return to those items listed, and remember to be thankful all over again, even when times are rough.

Some of my most challenging lists of gratitude were during quarantine in 2020. When you can’t leave your home, everything is cancelled, and the future looks like a big empty void {remember, I love to plan and my new planner in 2020 went from full to empty for weeks on end. It was crushing}, it wasn’t surprising that finding reasons to be thankful didn’t flow easily from my pen.

However, when I looked, when I thought and concentrated for just a few minutes, there was always something.

Health

Sunshine and a yard to enjoy when all the parks closed

Technology to see friends virtually

Food

Family games and movies

I’m sure you get the idea. There’s always something we CAN be grateful for, but sometimes it takes a little more effort and thought. And now I have list upon list of gratitudes, even for 2020.

I still have running lists — groceries, gift ideas, birthdays, projects, writing ideas, school resources — but the one that continues to help me the most is my list of thankfulness.

Photo by Paico Oficial on Unsplash

Homeschool Update

It’s been awhile since I’ve talked about our homeschool year! Here’s a brief update on all things school.

1. My oldest was struggling with history. She loves to read and usually loves history but as this was more of a review year for her with our current curriculum, she was getting bored. She’s done small portions of American history for the last four years and this year was one big overview. I don’t think it’s possible to know/remember everything you’ve learned over the years but when I would talk with her, she clearly knew the big events, people, and time periods and was simply bored. I’ve NEVER switched curriculum in the middle of the year but I felt it necessary to keep her interest engaged. So she started reading A Child’s Geography on the Holy Land. It combines geographical, historical, and cultural information with lots of colorful pictures. She’s enjoyed it much more and it started the ball rolling for world history, which she’ll begin next year.

2. My second grader is loving Handwriting Without Tears…as much as a boy who doesn’t love writing can! This has been a great program for him; it combines learning and practicing separate letters with writing them in words. He’s almost finished with his current book and ready to move on to pre-cursive.

3. The big win for our preschooler has been UsBourne Wipe Clean books and activity books. She loves them and with the Wipe Clean, I’m amazed how she happily does the same activities over and over. She does need help reading the pages to know what to do/look for in the activity book but I can easily step away from the older kids, tell her what to do on those pages, and she completes them on her own.

4. I recently bought this book and we’ve enjoyed reading the entry for the day. It’s opened some questions about different people, events, inventions and so far we haven’t come across anything not appropriate for kids. We also read a nature poem a day from this book and the older kids have started taking turns reading them aloud. I think reading poems aloud is such a great skill to have!

   That about sums it up! This year has gone fairly smoothly and I can’t believe we’re already in March! Another school year almost complete.

   Photo by Anton Sukhinov on Unsplash

Joy in Lingering

We are a society bent on going.

The pace at which we feel we must live is exhausting, even for the most ambitious person. Messages of hustle, keep going, push in, try harder, be more, have it all…these are all about going even when you’re falling asleep standing up.

They are also all about you. What YOU can do. What YOU need to strive for. Why YOU need to keep going.

There are definitely times when life demands a lot. There are moments when you have to just keep going even through fatigue. But these shouldn’t dominate us or be the norm.

I used to view life as a checklist of things to get through. What did I HAVE to do before I could read or write or craft or just take a break? And I realized that my checklist was never complete. When I neared the end, something would come up that needed my attention and the list would grow.

So then I thought the answer was to rush. Clean quickly. Rush through meal prep, eating, and cleanup. Skim books, multitask everything possible. But the checklist was never complete and I was more exhausted and actually accomplishing less. And I certainly wasn’t enjoying anything.

Then one day, I was at a friend’s house. Susan is a busy interior designer and she easily has 50 tabs open in her brain at all times of things she’s working on. But as she was moving around her kitchen preparing our meal, there was nothing rushed. She took joy in every aspect of the moment. She chopped the onion precisely, sometimes stopping as she thought of the right word to describe something to me. She carefully folded the napkins for the table. She arranged the food on each plate to perfectly match. She wanted to give her best effort at where she was then, what she was doing then, and leave the next task for when this one was completed and enjoyed. No use to rush. The next thing would still be there after dinner.

I realized with young kids these stylized meals would be difficult for me to duplicate. However, I could adopt a less frenzied attitude in what I did. And I could change my thinking from a HAVE to checklist to a GET to checklist. I realized that my frustration with certain tasks was based on my attitude toward them. It’s a joy to have food to feed my family. A privilege to have a nice kitchen to work in. A blessing to sit and savor time together as we review our day as a family.

All those things were missing when I was hustling to get done with that to get on with something else.

I believe we miss out on realizing so many blessings around us because we’re too busy running from thing to thing to notice what just happened. And often things that should be a blessing are phrased as a complaint. We don’t feel we are ungrateful but we certainly aren’t thankful!

So I’ve been attempting {and it’s not always easy} to linger a little longer when I’m in the midst of things. I turn on music and sing along while I cook. I make a cup of hot tea and sit to enjoy it. I fold laundry and let my thoughts wander over the funny moments of the day. I don’t try to make things pass quickly. I don’t fill every moment with noise or tasks. I allow myself to just sit and pray.

And I find a new enjoyment and thankfulness in small, lingering moments.

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

Faithfulness

We’re still in that bubble at the beginning of the year where people are envisioning and resolving and dreaming of all the possibilities that 2022 might hold. But sometimes, we struggle to take that first step. We know the end goal we want to achieve but how do we get there?

Maybe we’re afraid of doing it wrong or making a mistake or failing. Maybe we believe we need to sit back and let God work. Maybe we’re waiting for a sign that never comes so year after year we press toward the same goal but we never get any closer.

One thing I’ve learned in life is that it’s not passive. Yes, we need to be wise and sometimes steps are slow and steady instead of fast and furious. But we need to keep showing up and doing what God has called us to. Often that means just doing the next thing. And sometimes we don’t know exactly how the next thing is going to help us or serve God but we keep going.

When I was going into my last year in high school, the seniors had the option of taking one university class for credit. Most of my friends were taking History of Civilization which was a class famous for the amounts of reading you needed to do and dates you had to memorize. I wanted to do something different. I decided to take a language since I knew my major would require two years. But which language?

My mom had been working with a lady from the Ukraine and I loved how the Russian language sounded, not harsh like German but fluid, smooth. So with no reason but that, I signed up for first year Russian and bought my textbooks. I’ll be honest and say it was hard. I spent hours in the language lab after class listening to phrases and repeating them into a microphone and practicing writing in a different alphabet.

I enjoyed the class, my teacher made it interesting, but it was hard. There were times I wondered why I was doing this and if I’d made the wrong choice in choosing this class, this language. At the beginning of second semester, our teacher gave us a heads up: our final for the year would be to recite the wordless book with at least two Bible verses per section. It ended up being two pages of Russian text to memorize and we had to understand what we were saying enough to answer questions our teacher asked about the Gospel.

During this same semester, my senior class was preparing to go to New York City for a missions trip. It was a busy few months but just before finals, we loaded into buses and drove to Brooklyn. One of the afternoons, we held a children’s club at the church and we shared the Gospel message using wordless books. Just before we started, several classmates excitedly ran up to me and said there were two Russian children in the back who didn’t understand much English.

With nerves rattling, I approached and introduced myself and asked if I could explain this book without words to them in Russian. They sat by me while I slowly staggered through every section, every Bible verse I had spent the semester memorizing for my final. They left the kids club with a Russian tract, a wordless book, and the gospel. I have no idea if they ever visited the church again but a seed was planted by a very overwhelmed and nervous high schooler.

It’s an extremely humbling experience to be used by God. To take your simple efforts and things you’ve unknowingly been cultivating and have God use them in ways you never imagined. When I set out to take Russian, I never dreamed that nine months later I would be witnessing in another language to two children who knew nothing of the Gospel. When my teacher assigned us that final project to work on, I had no idea my missions team would be sharing that same material in the children’s program. But God…

I often think when we set out to make resolutions and reach our goals, we only have that in mind: our goals. Our desires. Our purposes. But how much richer our lives become when we set our priorities on God’s desires for us. What he has for us this year, this month, this day. And while we can’t anticipate everything God has for us, we can practice faithfulness, right here, where he’s placed us.

It’s impossible to know how God will use what we’re doing today for the future. But that’s okay. We don’t need to know the ends and outs of what God will do or how. We just need to be faithful where we are. We need to be praying for opportunities and studying the Bible so we know what to say when the need arises. How will you be faithful today?

Photo by Charles Black on Unsplash

A Happy New Year!

We are almost finished with 2021!

This week, I’ve been looking back at things I learned, read, tried, and failed at. I’ve also been anticipating everything 2022 might hold. Even though change is not my favorite, there is a special excitement going into the new year.

I’ve been planning my Bible reading schedule, setting up my planner, and trying to organize the house from the Christmas chaos. Today the decorations will start to come down and I’ll get my kids on dusting/vacuuming duty!

Whenever I look ahead to January and beyond, I try to think back over the previous year. How did I struggle? Where did my habits falter? How can I keep from making the same mistakes again? The Bible has many passages about Israel remembering their past. They were to look back and reflect on what God had done for them, how he had shown himself and protected them. And that looking back was to give them hope and courage for how he would continue to work in the future.

Of course, we see Israel struggling with this but it’s a theme we read again and again… “Remember how God brought you out of Egypt” “Remember when God provided manna in the wilderness” “Remember when God delivered you by parting the Red Sea”….

Our moments of protection might not be so dramatic but God certainly brings us through many trials, joys, hardships, and changes. And just as Israel was reminded to look back, we need to also. With the remembering, I hope we can also evaluate what we need to adapt going into 2022. Not everything worked or went well in 2021; maybe some bad habits were fostered and good practices lost. Each of us — with prayer and not pride — needs to honestly look back and decide what to keep and what to loose from 2021.

I created a simple printable for you to download and print off as a reminder of 5 small ways to make 2022 better. These are simple suggestions but they will take effort, time, and a decision to put them into practice. If you think of other things to add, I’d love to hear! Click the button below to access the printable! And thanks for reading in 2021.

Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness! Psalm 115:1

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

The Weary Rejoice

Christmas hymns are some of my favorites, probably because they bring back so many memories. Violin concerts, orchestra concerts, choir performances, church programs. I can remember the arrangements, settings, hard spots on so many Christmas songs from across the years.

One of those favorites is O Holy Night. Think about these words:

Long lay the world in sin and error pining
Till he appear'd and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary soul rejoices
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn!

The world had been broken and sinful and watching for a Savior for years, generations. Then, in a most unexpected way, God delivers on his promise in the form of a baby, bringing hope and joy. The gloriousness of that event was much more than just a new life entering the world. It was the beginning of the end, in a way. The load of the weary was going to be lifted and placed on the perfect Son of God. Born to die for our sins and offer the grace and hope we desperately needed but had no ability to make.

I think many of us are weary this year. A lot of difficult, trying, hard things have happened and we might try to muster the excitement and joy of the season but we’re struggling. We know the source of our grief isn’t going to go away or magically resolve itself. We still have next year to face, with unknown challenges to come.

But here’s the thing about hope — it’s not just for Christmas and it promises much more than solving earthly frustrations. We have salvation, we have the Holy Spirit, we have eternal peace. Our souls, weary with the cares of this world and all the brokenness of sin, can still rejoice with true joy. All because of Jesus, coming humbly to die humbly.

Photo by Debby Hudson on Unsplash