Each year, I end the year reflecting on the word or phrase that has followed me throughout the year. I know this is backwards in some ways. Most people choose a word or mantra for the new year, but that’s never how it’s worked for me. Instead, as I move through the year, so too does a word of phrase.
This year has been a year of change.
When I say it’s been a year of change, I mean we have changed every single part of our lives. We have changed houses….twice. The kids have all started new schools. Sam and I have both changed careers. We’ve changed cities and zip codes. We have changed from being a five pet house to being petless. We have traversed so many new roads and new routines that many people have asked us, “Have you caught up to yourselves yet?”
Maybe?
As I look back at this series that asks me to reflect on the year, I realize our journey is not unlike other years. In 2022, I reflected:
I didn’t realize at the time that there isn’t necessarily one call for each of us, but instead that a called life is one that stays open to the voice and prompting of the Holy Spirit. Staying open isn’t an easy posture. It is much easier to remain closed and rigid in our plans and expectations of the day. Staying open means being willing to shift and change. Staying open means noticing and seeing people who we might and their needs. Staying open means we never quite know how the day is going to go.
https://merianna.net/2022/12/a-year-of-staying-open/
As much change as I have navigated and as many questions I have wondered about what life was going to look like, still my call to be light and love wherever we are has remained the same. When you know that you are called, the context and concept of that call may change, but you are still you.
While I may hope that in this new year, there is not as much change, I also know that we are all changing at every moment. The world we are living in is in the midst of drastic change. So maybe I won’t hope that there is not as much change ahead, and instead hope that with every change that comes, my light shines a little brighter.