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Monthly Reflections

February 2021 Reflections

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December 2020 Reflections

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Coming in Out of the Wind.

I wrote this little prayer today in between emails

I wrote this little prayer today in between emails and Zoom meetings. If you happen to read this, I hope it blesses you. :)
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#prayer #prayers #weekend #liturgy

Not a huge selfie fan (of myself), but it is worth

Not a huge selfie fan (of myself), but it is worth documenting that I finally got my hair done, and it is no longer gray. #ThankyouGod

{4} “I suspect that God’s plan, whatever it is

{4} “I suspect that God’s plan, whatever it is, works on a scale too large to admit our mortal tribulations; that in a single lifetime, accidents and happenstance determine more than we care to admit; and that the best we can do is to try to align ourselves with what we feel is right and construct some meaning out of our confusion, and with grace and nerve play at each moment the hand that we’re dealt.”― Barack Obama, A Promised Land
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I will admit that I wasn’t paying much attention when Barack Obama was entering his first years in office in 2009. I proudly voted for him, and then promptly turned my attention to my life which consisted of little to know political awareness. Truly, it hasn’t been until the last four years that I have paid too much attention to the political landscape. I picked up this book in the hopes that looking back to a not- so-distant past would help me understand and better appreciate the political turmoil of our day. This book did not disappoint.
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There is so much I could say about this five-star read, but the most important thing that I took away from it is simply a sense of hope. Watching the current news cycle for any length of time has the tendency to create a hardened cynicism that says that change isn’t possible, that our divisions are too deep, and that no optimistic hope can bridge the chasm that seems to divide us. Obama challenged me though to believe in the goodness of people—to believe that there are enough of us using our conscious as our guide—to believe that our individual actions matter in the larger scheme of things. This reminded me that hope is not lost. We all have a part to play, and no part is too small.
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#apromisedland #barackobama #hope #bookstagram

A month is not complete for me without a tiny mome

A month is not complete for me without a tiny moment of reflection. Here is what I learned and observed in January:
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My life is more meaningful when I mute the noise of social media and the endless news cycle. Starting the year without social media was a really good decision.
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Our words matter. I always knew this, but the attack on our Capitol on January 6th was another reminder of how much power our words (spoken, typed, written, tweeted, texted, captioned) really do make a difference. What if we all used our words for good? What could happen? What would happen?
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Bowling on Saturdays in January has proven a reliably fun and safe activity to do on cold days in the middle (or maybe end?) of a pandemic.
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Writing for five minutes every morning is life-giving and soul-revealing. I didn’t know how much I had to process until I picked up my pen in the morning. I’m not sure I will ever stop this simple practice.
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The movie Soul changed my perspective on purpose. I love it when a movie for children speaks so poignantly to the adults in the room.
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Watching my Paperwhite bulbs start to grow is a daily reminder of how I grow and learn and change. My process always starts small and often in the dirt, but slowly, slowly something new emerges.

“Washington was a typical American. Napoleon was $“Washington was a typical American. Napoleon was a typical Frenchman, but Lincoln was a humanitarian as broad as the world. He was bigger than his country - bigger than all the Presidents together…We are still too near to his greatness,' (Leo) Tolstoy (in 1908) concluded, 'but after a few centuries more our posterity will find him considerably bigger than we do. His genius is still too strong and powerful for the common understanding, just as the sun is too hot when its light beams directly on us.' (748) ― Doris Kearns Goodwin, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ • Yesterday I finally finished Goodwin’s famous work on Abraham Lincoln. Doris Kearns Goodwin’s masterpiece of a book describes the unlikely rise of the “railsplitter” from Illinois to the highest office in the land, at perhaps one of the most crucial moments in our nation’s history. In fact, our country was fracturing even as Lincoln was traveling east to Washington for his Inauguration in 1861. • I’ve always known that Lincoln was a national hero, but until now I’ve never understood exactly why. Here is what made Lincoln great: it was his character. He lead with kindness and empathy. His gracious heart was able to turn his fiercest rivals into his closest allies. He chose his cabinet members not by how loyal they would be to him, but rather how he felt they would help him to lead the country. He was deeply humble, and he never took himself too seriously even in the depths of the Civil War. He was criticized at every turn throughout the war, but he never wavered in his purpose. He was deeply in tune with the needs of the country, and had a vision for America far greater than many of his contemporaries could see. When he died at the end of this book, I felt like I had lost a close friend—such was the power of Goodwin’s writing. Our country was truly blessed to have this particular man in the Presidential seat at this very critical moment in our country’s history. I got to know him. • {Image Caption: Picture of the book Team of Rivals} • #bookstagram #teamofrivals #abrahamlincoln #fivestars$

I bought this sign in 2018, long before I had even

I bought this sign in 2018, long before I had even considered the reality of a global pandemic or a stay-at-home order. I have lots of memories of March of 2020, but one that stands out is cleaning out my office to finish the semester from home. I remember one of my colleagues saying “I’ll see you on the other side.” At the time I thought that, “the other side” meant a week or even a month from then. I will admit that the thought of working from home in my cozy socks was appealing. I was happy to go home for a bit. In that same week, though, I understood two simple facts: I was not going back to work any time soon, and people were dying. I was going to work from home in my cozy socks and people were going to die.
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When I look back on 2020, I think I will remember this: I held both beauty and pain in my hands at the same time. I cried tears of joy and sadness in the same moment. This tension has always existed, but this year was marked with it for me. It is the promise of a vaccine with an empty chair at Christmas. It is a hospital full to overflowing, but also filled with dedicated medical workers risking their lives for strangers. And, it is me in my cozy socks with tears in my eyes.
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{Image Caption: The decorative sign on my wall that reads “Let’s Stay Home.”}
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#beauty #pain #grateful #2020

Here is my #topnine for 2020. My curly hair phase,

Here is my #topnine for 2020. My curly hair phase, day 4578 of quarantine, thirteen years of marriage, #bidenharris2020, and the best book I read all year!

I have gained so much this year from the simple ar

I have gained so much this year from the simple art of reflection. In a year where everything became unpredictable almost over night, my simple habit of reflection throughout this month has helped to ground me. I'm so grateful for the teaching of Emily P. Freeman who lead me to to this practice.Here are a few of the things I learned in December:
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I suck at completing the Christmas puzzle. Each year, I pull out my Christmas puzzle, and each year I get about as far as the image you see here before it goes back in the box until next Christmas when I pull it out to try again.
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I oppose the death penalty. I kind of already knew this, but this case of Brandon Bernard earlier this month sealed the deal for me. I’m still learning how I can make my voice count in this area.
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Hamilton (on Disney +) is just as good as everyone says it is. I'm not ashamed to admit that I took an entire afternoon while my boys were still in school to watch this play while eating an entire frozen pizza by myself (it was small (ish)).
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Lighting the Advent candles is a beautiful way to commemorate the season of Advent. While my boys and I have practiced Advent for years, I haven't actually used an Advent wreath or lit candles in coordination with the daily movement toward Christmastide. The actual act of lighting a physical candle has a magical way of changing the mood in the room. The shift is a subtle one, but it is very real. My kids stilled when I lit the candles and our family room took on the feel of a tiny cathedral. Aside from the time Dane nearly caught his hair on fire trying to blow one of the purple candles out (#truestory) it was a beautiful experience.
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(I had to put the rest on my newly re-established blog, because I ran out of room! (Of course, I did.) I have a #linkinbio if you want to read the rest of what I learned this month.)
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{Image Contents: My unfinished puzzle, with only a few pieces successfully put together. I love you, Mom.}
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On to 2021!

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