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This space has been pretty quiet, hasn't it?

Knowing how much I love writing (and need to write), friends periodically ask me what I've been writing and how it's going, but the truth is that I am writing less these days than I have in a long, long time, and thinking less about writing stories than I have probably ever since I started (so... grade school!).  I still journal sporadically, write emails, update Instagram accounts as a sort of public journal, and have recently been working on an essay for this year's ACNA contest, but an awful lot of my creative energy is poured into the small human I spend most of my days with.  Watching her grow is a joy and pretty consuming!  Cooking and baking is my other main creative outlet, and more fun than ever with consistent folks to feed.  

All that being said, I wanted to pop in here for a few minutes to reflect on the past year.

It's been a rough year for the world, catastrophic in many global theaters, but it's been a pretty sweet and beautiful year for me.  Ironically, despite the pandemic and everything else, the beginning of my third decade of life has brought a lot of stability and joy.  

This past year in particular is one that I feel proud of.  I had a baby (and she's almost a year old, believe it or not).  I got my driver's license (finally).  I transitioned out of my job with Uncommon Universes and into a position with our church.  I cooked many, many meals.  I learned how to work with sourdough.  The year held a lot of hard days, and a lot of loss, and a lot of ordinary days, and a lot of good.

And I am so, so thankful for all of the people who have been a part of that -- the amazing communities that surround us, our families and friends and neighbors and church.  There are far too many to name, but if you're reading this, know that we thank God for the gift of having you in our lives.


(photo by Joel Holland, made available on Unsplash)


For a while, God has given me the image of a meadow full of wildflowers when I think of my life -- a wide open space with beauty and peace and room to breathe.  Once again, on the cusp of a new year of life, the words of Psalm 16 are utterly fitting:

Lord, You are my portion and my cup of blessing;

You hold my future.

The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;

Indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.  

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