Remember when I blogged in real time? Me too. Those were the good ol days. Simpler times. Or so I like to tell myself. In truth they were just different times. They were just as full, and stress-filled, as ordinary and as magical as these times. Just differently so.
The world was different. My awareness of the world was different. Our home life was different. My work was different. My faith was different. Our zip code was different. (And now I have typed different so many times that it looks weird…)
Anyway, those were those days, and these are these days. And these days my posting is sporadic and delayed, but still something I love and value and can’t quite let go of. This blog is a sort of anchor to who I am, who I was, and who I hope to be. It is a place I know I can always come back to – as a reader and a writer, and so I hold on to it – for better and for later.
Which brings us to last Christmastide. Christmastide 2017.
Last Christmas was a tough one, that I remember.
Last Christmas was the last one with Wylie living under our roof as a kid. Not a college kid, not an adult. Just a kid.
Last Christmas was the Christmas that my not-so-secret wish that we would be able to adopt Brother and Sister and the Twins (yes 4 kids at once) began to unravel like cheap garland.
Last Christmas was weird because the church was in a transition and I felt like I was walking on a marshmallow surface all the time – never quite finding my balance.
Last Christmas was the first one spent with our amazing Small Group.
Last Christmas was when doors began to open in my work with The Episcopal Church.
Last Christmas was when we brought the goats home.
Last Christmas was weird. And hard. And still completely 100% Christmas. Still beautiful.
Advent arrived and we waited.
I decorated. We baked.
And then Christmas arrived and we celebrated.
Tears and joy and mixed together like butter and eggs.
So far this Christmastide is another mixed bag. Lots of waiting. The heartbreak over the kids not as acute, yet still felt. Different style of tree. No baking as of yet. Wylie being home is magic. The New Year feels as if it might be filled with twinkle lights.
Maybe I will get this years pictures posted before years end. Maybe not.
Peace and love my friends.
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