Just a Thought or Two

2024 has been beautiful and painful, amazing and heartbreaking. I hold tight to the people who have helped me grow, helped me process. At times, I didn't think I'd get to this point. In many ways, 2024 broke me. But, it allowed me to heal in real and (hopefully) lasting ways, too. It opened the door for a perspective that I didn't know I was capable of. I was able to build on improved communication skills, looking at things through a Biblical lens, realizing that the majority of the people in my life are not trying to intentionally hurt me. Perhaps this has been the biggest win for me in 2024, or maybe it's that and the fact that even still, it is okay that I'm sensitive. I feel deeply and sometimes have a hard time with those feelings. But, those feelings, coupled with being sensitive, have allowed me to develop deep friendships and relationships, to be truly present, even from miles apart. I don't know what the next 12 months will bring, but regardless, I thin...

As I've prepared to write this post, the words haven't come easily. Does that mean my 2023 was uneventful? Unimportant? No.  I know God became very real to me in the last 12 months because I finally stopped running from Him. I surrendered to Him in a way I hadn't in a very long time, allowing myself to get involved in church again, ever reminded of His unending grace. There is such freedom in complete surrender. I developed some beautiful relationships- some that sustained me for a season, and still others that are sure to last a lifetime. I am reminded of my small group of core friends and mentors: those who I feel closest to, those I feel safe with, those who I can be vulnerable with, regardless of the distance between us. I owe so much to each of them as they have allowed me to process, as they have let me cry, let me vent, moving through 2023 with me, looking ahead to 2024. I often have a hard time articulating just how much they mean to me, but the deep connections I h...