Healing & Hope 2023
I’ve landed on my Phrase of the Year for 2023
Healing and Hope!
I need both and the older I get, the more I realize that the hope of Jesus is actually what helps our healing!
Without a doubt, the past two years have been the hardest of my life, filled with profound losses, hurtful and false accusations, and a cloud of sadness that for a long time felt as though it would never lift. I wish I could tell you all about it, and at some point the stories will make their way from my heart to my pen, but for now, they remain tucked safely inside so that I can process and grieve and learn and grow.
As I sit at my keyboard this morning I cling to this truth from Psalm 56:9 that has carried me through the darkness of recent years:
“This I know, that God is for me.”
Somehow, amidst the pain, my heart is full of gratitude which runs counter to all logic and is nothing I could produce of myself. My circumstances (especially those of this past summer) could justify anger and bitterness and a general 'Screw it!' posture, so my thankfulness - in spite of my circumstances - stems from how God has proven, over and over again, that He is for me.
I've not faced one minute alone.
In that same Psalm - Psalm 56 - there's a beautiful visual of God placing my tears in a bottle. I think my 2021-2022 bottle is the size of an oil drum, but I take great comfort in knowing that He knows every one of my tears.
Not one passed unseen.
Not one was meaningless to him.
Not one.
So rather than list all the personal and work-related goals I have set for 2023, as is typical the first week of the new year, I thought I'd make a gratitude list to start the year. I want to remain diligent in cultivating a grateful heart.
I am so grateful for my weekly counseling sessions that have helped me gain perspective on all the hard and all the loss I’ve experienced in 2021 and 2022. I’m learning to figure out what I'm actually feeling while also learning to grieve; apparently I suck at doing both!
I am so grateful for the Psalms. When my heart is loaded with sorrow the Psalms carry me through. I picked up a Psalms journal Bible and have loved journaling my way through them; a creative outlet to process all the feels.
I am so grateful that the head-on collision Maddie was in on Friday, November 18th, ended with her walking away, unharmed. That phone call could have been very, very different.
I am so grateful for extended time with my family in Canada this Christmas. 5 feet of snow in 5 days was truly a winter wonderland.
I am so grateful for my closest of friends and family who stepped into my pain and helped carry our burdens this summer. When I was a puddle on the floor, you picked me up, dusted me off, and helped me move forward.
I am so grateful that we can open up our home again to family and friends for meals and overnight stays.
I am so grateful for my trip to Germany with my mother and Aunt Shirley this past September. You can see a recap of my trip over here. I will treasure those memories forever.
I am so grateful for my speakers' group and the new friendships coming from that space. God is so good to give us new friends.
I am so grateful for my husband and my kids. They have my heart. Always. Forever.
I am so grateful that on this chilly January day we have a warm home and food in our fridge. I'm just old enough to not take things like that for granted.
Healing and Hope: My 2023 focus.
May our hearts heal
(I'm assuming I'm not the only one struggling with hurts)
and
our HOPE grow stronger.
