Just the other week I sat with my 3 kids at the park. Almost simultaneously, I heard them shout out “Mom, watch this!” rom 3 different directions. Each child wanted to  share what they were doing with me. They wanted to feel seen and celebrated. Every slide, every climb, every race.

As we say goodbye and leave the place that has been our home for so long, I am struck by the beauty of staying. An interesting observation by someone who I leaving, I am sure.

Even though life was stolen

Before it was even experienced

And all you feel left with

Are dreams that feel like memorials

The chores are delayed as they wait to see if either of the girl will walk past the doorway “regularly”. Each time of the girl passes the opening she is walking differently. Hopping, skipping, back wards, sideways, crab walk, etc.  After while the parents even try imitating the different dances that the girls do unknowingly.

Who didn’t sing this little song as a kid? It seemed to sum up all that was ahead for us in a fun little rhyme.

First love

Then Marriage

Than a baby in a baby carriage.

In the gloom of winter, I find my searching for the light. Hope can be grasped if only by the fingertips. But it does flicker in the distance. A light at the end of a tunnel.

Greeting 2024, a hesitancy makes me shy. I cautiously approach this new year, unsure of what is ahead.

We have not gotten to know each other yet. Like strangers we anticipate all that this hello will lead to.

Adventures, heartache, growth, and hopefully lots of sweet moments.

That everything can wait a little longer

The One who spun the snow

Will keep the world spinning

Here we sit in the lost days of 2023 which just happen to be the last days. December come in a flurry of activity and leaves in a haze of satisfied exhaustion.

We prepare well so we can celebrate well. The Lord is honored in our celebrating, as long as our celebration remembers and honors Him and doesn’t crowd Him out.