Don't Start Darlin'

2018 was quite a beach. Full of people, big waves, small currents, difficult runs, quiet walks, warm days, breezy nights, and of course- lots of paid parking. When I looked through my photos from this past year I found a lot more of everything than I ever have before. Meaning, I found more loss than I have ever experienced; whether that be the people around me that I loved the most, or the times of watching who I thought I was slip through the cracks. I also found more strength and perseverance than what I thought I had in me; choosing joy even when I was the most broken inside, choosing to forgive even when I didn’t want to look a single person in the eye, choosing to love my Jesus even when I couldn’t feel a thing, and watching God mold my short-comings into something beautiful. 2018 was a rough one, a bittersweet journey, but in those 12 months of growing pains I found a hope for 2019; hope because of the church and community God has given me, hope because of the loving family that is still with me, hope because I am learning and blossoming from my mistakes, hope because insecurity is starting to make no sense to me in the slightest. That is what a New Year is about, it’s not about redeeming fallen-through resolutions, it is about a hope which allows the following 365 days to involve into something greater and stronger. May we all continue to learn how to love a little deeper and shed the film of bitterness around our hearts each and every day.