27 Things.

Well, it's that time again...when I look back over the year and think about what I've learned, what I remember, what was good, what wasn't so good and I share it with you (or if no one reads it, really just to document it for myself...it's like an easy, electronic scrapbook). This is also known as my birthday tradition. I love making a list about the things I've learned or things that have happened in my last year of life. It makes me more grateful and helps me not to forget. So in honor of my last day of being 27, here are 27 things from year number 27. 1) I graduated with my Master's in Urban Studies, with a Community Development focus from Eastern University in May. It was a lot of hard, hard work and a lot of time and tears poured into my thesis, but it was worth it and I'm so glad I did it.

2) It was a year of hard stuff. It was definitely a year of brokenness and I would say a phrase that encompasses my last year could be, "Life is not easy, but you can do hard things and you are not alone." I've learned a lot about sitting in the brokenness.  I'm glad this year is over.

3) I always have to make a point about the TV shows I loved this year. I got hooked for a little bit on Supernatural thanks to Betsy and Ryan, Jenn and I watched all the seasons of Criminal Minds, and I loved the new shows Quantico and Blind Spot. If I mention anymore I'll start feeling embarrassed with how much TV I can watch.

4) The quickest way to my heart is through words, books and flowers.

5) Jenn and I almost got a dog, but then we didn't.

6) Another good year of travels and time spent with so many fun, wonderful people. I went to New Orleans for a bachelorette party, Philly twice, Gatlinburg (my first solo trip/vacation/escape to write my thesis), Michigan a couple times, Chicago, Iowa, Florida and Seattle. All good times!

7) I submitted a workshop proposal to present at the Christian Community Development Conference (CCDA) and it got accepted! I did my workshop in November about "Creating a Culture of Self-Care Within your Organization" and it was awesome. I loved it. I hope I get to do it again!

8) I am deep into my bones and into my soul grateful for how people showed up for me this year. If I start thinking about it for too long I'll start to cry.

9) I attended the Justice Conference in Chicago with Becca and ran into some other great friends while I was there. I highly recommend this conference to everyone.

10) I realized how much I really hate blowing out birthday candles.

11) We had our first annual Friendcation in Michigan and it was so great and so full of life and just so fun.

12) I learned that No can be a complete sentence.

13) I read so many good books this year and I got to be on the launch team for two books by two of my favorite authors! A few of the great books I read: Simply Tuesday by Emily p. Freeman, Out of Sorts by Sarah Bessey, Searching for Sunday by Rachel Held Evans, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, and so many more! I re-read the Harry Potter series too...always a good choice.

14) I thought I was going to get Lasik but then realized I can't afford it so I transitioned out of my "sleep at night and they shape your eyes for the day contacts" into normal contacts...anyway that's a long and oversharing way of basically saying, I got new glasses and I love them!

15) I learned lots of deep lessons, one line for a few of them would be: How to be brave. How sometimes balance can be achieved, but usually not. How sharing your story releases you from shame. How anxiety truly affects my life. How to pay attention to what makes me cry. How I need to be kinder to myself. How exhausting job hunting is. How sometimes it's just about doing the right next thing. How it's a discipline to unlearn.

16) I left my job with Harvest Hands. It was really hard and was not something I was planning or anticipating, but through it all I learned more about what it means to be obedient to what you know you're supposed to do and seeing how God is faithful.

17) I started two new great jobs! I'm doing contract grant writing for a non-profit here in Nashville called St. Luke's Community House and working part-time for an awesome marketing company called Blue Kite Marketing.

18) I realized I have this habit of always opening my shower curtain because I'm afraid someone is hiding in there. Don't ask me what I would do if when I open it, someone was actually hiding there. (I watch too much Criminal Minds)

19) There were lots of exciting times for my friends and family! Jonah turned 1, my sister got engaged, a couple friends bought houses, a few more got married and lots are expecting babies. So many reasons to celebrate, I love it!

20) I learned you can make more than one list on the iPhone's Reminder App. I probably should have known this a long time ago, but it has revolutionized my life.

21) I started going to a yoga class. I guess this counts even though it happened this week. So....so far, so good?

22) I also started seeing a spiritual director this year. Probably, actually most definitely, one of the best decisions I've ever made. A spiritual director is basically someone who walks alongside you and helps you be intentional and pay attention to what God is doing in your life.

23) I found another peace place in Nashville. I visited Radnor Lake a lot these last couple months. Being around water and trees is good for my soul.

24) Melody graduated!! This is a big deal and I was so excited when I watched her walk across that stage!

25) I have become obsessed with podcasts. I listen to them in the car, when I'm cleaning, when I'm cooking, when I just need some peace and lay on the floor to listen...you get the picture. Some of my favorites are: The Sorta Awesome Podcast, Personality Hacker, Serial, Hidden Brain, Pop Culture Happy Hour and Magic Lessons with Elizabeth Gilbert.

26) I've realized how much I love personality tests. I've researched a lot of them this year. I'm an INFJ, Enneagram 2, Blue on True Colors, etc. I don't think personality tests are the say-all for who you are, but I think they're such good tools to understanding ourselves and others. And I think the world is a better place when we understand ourselves and try to understand others.

27) I still love being an aunt.

Here's to year number 28. May I continue to have reasons to be thankful, may I learn to love more deeply and show grace more freely, may I continue to learn how to sit in the brokenness and the knowledge I can't fix everything, may I soak in any time with family and friends that I get and may I remember that I can do hard things, I can grow where I am planted and that I am not alone.

One Word for 2016

It’s one of my favorite times of year…time to declare one word for my year ahead. This will be the fourth year that I’ve done this and it’s a practice that works really well for me. I usually start thinking about my word in December, a few usually come to mind and I let them rattle around in my heart and mind for a few weeks.

I've loved that over the last couple weeks people have asked me what my word will be for the year. It’s good for me to share it because when I speak it out there, there’s no taking it back.

This year's word makes me a little nervous, but I've been praying it over my year and it's a word that I have felt come across my spirit too many times to ignore. I have done this long enough to know that there is power in declaring a word for your year. It might sound crazy, but I know I need to be ready for what lies ahead if I truly want my year to be about this.

My word for 2016 is GROW.

A lot happened in 2015 that I wasn't expecting and looking to 2016, I have no idea what it will hold. I don't know what will happen, but I do know regardless of where I go or what I do, I want to grow. I can't grow deep roots if I'm moving around and always looking to what's next. I can't grow if I'm always trying to be comfortable and play it safe.

I know that to grow means to change and that change isn't always easy for me (or ever easy for me really). I know that with growth comes growing pains, that it doesn't happen in a vacuum and that I will be stretched and shaped...all the reasons why I get a little nervous with this word.

I know I've grown a lot every year, but this year I want to approach it with more intention and with a posture that embraces the change and the depth that can come when you make a friend of change and when you choose to really grow and evolve where you are planted.

I want to grow deeper roots and reach new heights.

I want to try new things, stretch myself and not become complacent of this is "just how things are."

I want to grow in wisdom and maturity.

I want to grow in relationships: to build deeper community, create richer opportunities for fellowship and practice hospitality.

I want to grow in my compassion and kindness.

I want to grow in my courage and in my confidence.

I want to grow in my discipline and self-control.

I want to grow in my self-love and in my understanding of extending grace and kindness to myself.

I want to pay better attention.

 

I want to grow in my love for others.

I want to better understand the world around me and other perspectives.

I want to get to know Jesus even better and what it really means to love God and others well.

I want to continue to grow into who I am meant to be.

I want to grow in healthiness and towards wholeness.

So here's to 2016 and to growth! I would love for you to join me on my journey and to hear how you're growing. If you have a word of the year, please leave a comment and let me know! I would love to hear it and to pray it over you and your year.

Sidenote: One of my goals for this year is to really work on my blog and write more consistently. I'm speaking this out there so I'm more likely to stick with it. :) I appreciate everyone that comes by my little corner on the internet! Thanks for reading friends!

A Christmas and New Year Prayer.

This year I was able to share a Christmas prayer and blessing with my family. It's a prayer that will hopefully help us remember and celebrate Christmas and what that means to us, but also to carry what that means throughout the year. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you!!

This Christmas season and coming year may we remember love, joy, peace and hope.

May we remember to love those right next to us, love those far from us and even love those who are hard to love.

May we cling to hope.

May we hold on to peace.

May we scatter joy.

May we remember His law is love and his gospel is peace.

May we remember that Christmas just means God came to us and He is Immanuel, God with us. Jesus came in a form that didn't seem right for a Saviour, but that by coming this way He became Immanuel. Jesus came to be with us.

Let us not forget that.

May we carry Christmas through the rest of the year. This upside down way of loving that Jesus tells us about, where we love our enemies, where swords are beaten into ploughshares, where we can be farmers who sow and cultivate peace, hope, love and joy instead of warriors for division, war, pain and oppression.

May we allow our weary souls to rejoice in the fact that He has come.

May we have good memories and remember the responsibility we have to be ambassadors of this hope, of this love, of this peace and of this joy.

May we remember that we are meant to put into action these things we believe...these things that begin with Christmas.

May we start paying attention to where more love needs to be shown, where more light needs to be reflected, when it's time to move to action, to pay attention to where we can be sowers of love, joy, and peace, but also when it's time to sit in the brokenness and hold onto hope.

May we remember that God is love and that Jesus came to show us a different way. A way to love God and love our neighbors. A way to even love our enemies. A way to be a part of a bigger story that's about love, joy, peace, hope and wholeness. Where everyone is accepted, loved and shown dignity and respect.

May we do the hard work of peacemaking, not just peacekeeping. Remembering that we must be creators of peace.

May we remember that there is no us and them. There's just us. We belong to each other. Jesus came for all of us and we don't get to decide who belongs and who doesn't, we just get to love.

May we remember that Jesus came so God could better engage with us. May we remember that God speaks uniquely to all of us and that its God's desire for us to respond to that.

May we go away from this season and into this new year remembering these things and knowing that we don't walk into whatever lies ahead alone because God is Immanuel and because we have each other. We weren't meant to do life alone.

God is with us and God is love.

Let us not forget that.