A lot of people don't like the final week of the year. It's nestled between the quiet, simplicity of christmas and the sparkly potential of the new years. I get that everything is a bit confused, and we all eat the wrong things.
But it's actually my favorite. I feel like time stops just long enough to actually enjoy what life is offering us.
In this last week, we get the opportunity to look at how far we've come, to remember all the sweet, quite moments that have marked us. Of course there is the hard stuff, but we get to look at that, too, from the other side. We get to learn from it and be real thankful that it's not still happening, or in the case that it is, that nothing lasts forever.
My entire existence is a rosey, pinky, gold. Everything is blanketed in snow, which adds extra sparkle, and cheeks are rosey from cold and champaign. Houses are cozy and smell like the holidays, there is extra laughter, and clinking of drinks and toasts for newer, better years. The people you love are together. There is something super special that happens when most of the people you love are under one roof for a period of time. The space feels sacred and there is richness even in the silences. Even those silences and pauses and steeped with history and traditions.
I cannot get over how beautiful this time of year is. And, maybe there is something to that "homecoming" feeling you get with fall. It happens here to. We all just get back to who are are, who we are in bones. Our roots.
or, maybe i have a tendency to romanticize everything. Or maybe it's a combination.
During this week three years ago, i got lock out of the apartment i was....housesitting? I don't know what to call it. It was a whole thing. Long story short, I ended up locked out of the place where all my stuff was locked in. I literally had one change of clothes and like...$50 with me....and i was stuck for....a couple of days....because holidays.
Anyway, that week three years ago...changed a lot of things for me. It changed the way i thought about family, it changed the way i thought about community, it changed how i asked for what i need....it changed me in profound, noticeable ways.
it ushered me into my 30's in a way that made me understand the importance of the people around you, and what it means to love people the way they need it, it showed me how to be vulnerable and for it to be okay. It showed me how to be broken but not stay that way.
So year, the last week of the year, it has a tender little spot in my heart, and i hope that never changes.
This week this year? Well, I'm finding that there's a lot to be thankful for. That the smiles, laughter and the joy out weight the things and times that have been hard. And even when things were hard or sad, there was always something to be thankful for.
Thank you, 2015, for all you've been, for all you've taught me, for the endless second chances and grace that is constantly given. You won't soon be forgotten.
I hope you're finding time to appreciate this time of year. I hope you look back and see where God has been ever present. How he's seen you though the twists and turns of year and how you've actually made it.
I hope your cheeks are rosey from the warmth of the season, I hope you can feel the beautiful potential that awaits you in 2016, and I hope you take some time to tell your special band of weirdos that you love them.
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