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.

So on this day

When darkness feels darkest

Let us marvel at what joy and hope

Even a tiny twinkle light can bring

Because light enters the world

And darkness will not overcome it

All I could hear was the rustle of the leaves in the trees. The perfect fall sound track. The breeze in the trees has a different cadence in November than in August. My daughter just hadn’t picked up on it yet.

May my offering in kind

Be praise never ending

May my life be define

By grace and gratitude

So my peace comes as gratitude wells up from within, leaving no room for the worries and wants of that have plagued me.

They will creep back in, I know. But more and more I hope that I grow to live a life defined by grace and gratitude.