I've been blogging since 2006. Shortly after I started, my life took a definite turn in another direction. We packed up our belongings and started moving across the country--west and north and south again in search of stable employment.
My blog went from writing about writing to writing about the journey I was taking to trust God with the plans for my life. In March, once again, we landed back in Florida for work. Never did I plan to return here.
At the start of 2014, I captured my phrase for the year--Embrace the Adventure. I'm doing it. I've actually not called my daughter once this year in tears. Well, maybe only once. But settling, however temporary this home is for us, doesn't mean we embrace everything well.
Christmas is coming in less than two weeks. The memories of past ones pull at my soul hard. I try not to remember but with all the pictures, and lights and festivities it's difficult not to remember past holidays spent with my daughter as a family. We used to put up a tree, and set the table with red and green napkins. I'd dig out my favorite recipes and pack away surprise gifts. I love Christmas. I love the time spent remembering the meaning and the time spent telling friends and family you love them. When your life and circumstances change, so do some of those rituals and remembrances.
This year has also brought changes in my writing life. I now have an agent, a book coming out and responsibilities I didn't have in the past.
What I fear is my blog and the changes I've seen in it. I like to write about the day-to-day challenges we all go through. Maybe this seems insignificant but I don't want my blog to become another tool to self-promote. I want it to be where I get real, tell you that sometimes life is a pain but that with time, God does answer prayer. I want to be able to say that I miss my home, I wish I was with family this Christmas and I want to bawl every time I hear a Christmas carol.
Yet, I know this is where God wants me. And I will not move until I am positive it's His will no matter how many Christmases I spend here.
So I'm taking a deep breath. Embracing life's challenges. Embracing the adventure.
Are you?
7 comments:
Christmas hugs to you! It's neat to hear the overview of your journey, and it's SO cool that you now have an agent and a book coming out. Rah!
My hubby is a pastor, and he and I have moved many times, always following a 'Call' of God to a new congregation. It was never easy leaving the familiar behind and going to the unknown, but, like you, we believed we were doing what God wanted us to do, going where he intended us to be at that particular time in our lives.
In the early years those moves involved our whole family. Later, the hardest separations were when our children left, either for post grad schools or to get married. All the year's special occasions were so different without them, especially Christmas.
The nostalgia over what the holiday used to be like can really pull a person into depression. I found deliberately making new traditions that involved other people was a big help -- having an Open House for the neighbourhood or congregation became a new tradition; turning my focus onto other people and maybe parcelling up home baking and taking it to someone who mightn't have any (a senior, a street person, a neighbour), inviting another family to a Christmas Eve dinner, attending seasonal community events with my hubby... they all helped establish a different approach to the holidays. We have to find other things that make us feel good and not depend on 'what used to be'.
I hope you find joy in celebrating Christ's birth. Merry Christmas, Terri! :)
I love this Terri, and that you write about your journey of life, of God, as it connects me to your story and is inspiring. And I look forward to reading how God is using these trials as it gives hope! Thank you!
I can relate to the Christmas memories. I miss my family in Chicago every year at this time. Sounds like adventures are in store for you! Merry Christmas.
life is chance-embrace the unexpected...
MAKE that CHANGE!
Embracing the adventure is the only way to live and keep smiling :)
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