It is now officially 2018. The start of a new year and yet somehow also, just the very next day. Interesting how that happens. I remember my last month of 29 and the weight of turning 30, feeling as though nothing I had anticipated life would be had really happened and the intense disappointment that held. Yet somehow deep inside there was this surge and swell of anticipation - a new decade and hope restored - the idea of tomorrow and all it could potentially entail. Each year is like that - closing a chapter in the book knowing those pages included some of our greatest adventures - both joyful and riddled with deep sorrow - yet still ahead are fresh blank sheets, lined cotton, waiting to be written upon with words we cannot yet comprehend.
We want to be ready…we want it to be fresh and special and significant. But I think this year, I’m also stepping into the year choosing to say it is just the very next day - every single day is an opportunity for new, another chance for hope. What are we really waiting for? Let’s not wait for a new week or a new month, or a new year to give ourselves that chance to start again - let’s start RIGHT NOW. Let’s walk into what He has for us - let’s turn to a fresh page and start claiming dreams and living them with wild exuberance. Let’s run with endurance the race marked out for us in faith and hope and love and mark others with our joy in Christ.
Life is going to be hard - undoubtedly true - but it can be significant in the small and seemingly unnoticeable moments and in the huge and almost insurmountable ones as well. He will be with me through it all - and I am choosing to cling to Him trusting He is GOOD and He is for me regardless of what I experience in my circumstances. I am going to STAND FIRM ON TRUTH and chase Jesus wherever He leads.
2017 included a lot of saying HELLO to sweet babies…
HELLO to some of the dearest babes who call me aunt shell: Jeremiah Joseph Garcia... Avery Lynn Key… Charlee Sue Diaz… Haddon Wayne Roth… Cami Jay Linthicum… and Paxon James Clark. I also celebrated and greeted Jameson Nathanael Burnett… Declan Graham Madsen… Adeline Rae and twin brother Beckham Steven Buxton and Elsie-Jane Marie Fleming! I also learned of a couple need seedlings that are on the way and we’ll get to greet them in 2018! Sweet lady Truglio and teeny tiny Symens are coming y’all!
2017 meant saying GOODBYE to far more than I would have desired…
Goodbye to my dear friends the Hoads - they moved to Brazil to study Portuguese before officially launching to Mozambique Island where they’ll be living as missionaries long-term. Goodbye to my sweet grandma Ellie B who passed in February. Goodbye to my friends the Wests who headed to Budapest to serve our good and faithful Father in His call for them. It also meant embracing the missionary life for my dear friends Andy and Kathleen who will be launching to Berlin in 2018. And at the very end of the year, I said goodbye to my best friend Amanda and her crew as they headed to San Antonio for their next chapter. I am continually learning that a painful goodbye is a gift - I am so grateful to love deep enough that a goodbye has weight and loss and leaves a bit of emptiness alongside it. People are my greatest treasure - and I am so blessed to share the time I am given with any God allows me to run alongside!
2017 included CELEBRATIONS…
Cheers to Ashley and Shane who got hitched in May - that bridesmaid life is undoubtedly something I have gotten quite good at throughout my 20’s and early 30’s! HA! I can throw a mean shower!
Cheers to Jenny and Nick who had two weddings - I am sure Hawaii was beautiful but the backyard shindig was good times for sure!
Cheers to Susan and Randy who walked down the aisle right as the year closed and allowed me to send out 2017 with my World Changers family - that was a gift extraordinaire!
The year also included more baby showers than we need to count and a lot of kid birthday parties too! As long as they all come with a side of champagne, I’m saying - SO FUN!
2017 included a move to Newport Beach and a new home with just one roommate!
2017 brought things new…
A new bookclub with Abigail and Meredith - in 2018 we are going to try and get through a book a month - LOVE THIS GOAL - reading is one of my favorite things and I just need to prioritize it a bit more.
Mentoring with HOLLS - I use the word mentoring loosely here - but walking alongside Holly and laughing through life together is a TREMENDOUS JOY!
New friends like Erica & Schotty Schotborgh who are fun and also remind me to be more fun
2017 meant continuing to step into my heartbeat and use my gifts…
Running CHOSEN and LOVING the vulnerable with every ounce
Designing all kinds of nonsense for people i love
Living fully alongside friends who have become as dear to me as family
Seeking Him first and choosing to trust Him more than my feelings
Listening to far too many podcasts, watching too much television, loving award shows, eating brunch at every opportunity, keeping the nails painted as often as possible, crying in the car and the shower, fighting the headaches, craving donuts, drinking copious quantities of coffee, shopping without guilt but trying not to spend too many dollars, sending tons of snail mail, reading often, loving my bed, praising the Lord for FaceTime and text messages and WhatsApp, loving me some champagne, finding more social causes to support, knocking a few things off the dream list like brunch at Ramos House and dinner at SUR, singing loudly (especially the broadway tunes!) in the car, and undoubtedly laughing a LOT!
2017 brought some travel…
The year kicked off with a trip to St. Louis to celebrate Emily’s 30th birthday and meet Charlee Sue
Adventures in Hollywood and a trip to see Ellen with Carrielove, this time dear Kathleen got to come along!!
Lots of weekends in San Diego with my parents plus Anna and her clan and the Gateway family!
A weekend trip to Napa with my Clark family - an actual REAL vacation - it was SO good!!! Plus Iron Horse champagne friends - there is NOTHING BETTER!
A business trip to Texas (I wanted to see Kimie but it just didn’t work out, so sad)
Carrielove came AGAIN and we got to explore downtown LA Jim Clark style…plus there are ALWAYS bars!
I headed to Maryland to see my family and celebrate Christmas
Atlanta to celebrate Susan’s wedding and reconnect with my World Changers family
and of course…
2017 took me to RWANDA where God unlocked my heart in a deep way and taught me to dance for Jesus like I never imagined possible!
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