The Year Behind and the Year Ahead

As the New Year rolled in over the weekend, cold temperatures also descended on us here in the Midwest. The parking lots are full of salt stains and ice, snow is jumbled up in hard, frozen piles, and when I walk outside, I can feel the inside of my nose begin to freeze. I even imagine the pine trees shivering, their cold needles swaying in the winter winds.

I know many people who dislike our cold Midwestern winters, but I think they’re beautiful. The snow reflects the light from the sun and sends it scattering in a brilliant diamond dance, just like the water does in the summer. We build tunnels through the snow, sled on top of the snow, and run through the snow until our legs hurt and we fall to the ground in a big white puff of snow. Sometimes a layer of frost forms on the trees, and they look like brides adorned in shimmering wedding-day gowns. Animal tracks are easy to find and follow, and birds come to the feeder more readily because food is hard to come by. I would rather be cold than hot. I can achieve this much easier in the wintertime.

This past year brought us a lot of exciting changes. My husband wrote a letter to go in our Christmas cards, so rather than typing up something myself, here is his summary of what we did in 2021:

“No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground.
He comes to make his blessings flow
Far as the curse is found.
-Joy to the World

We moved at the end of 2020, building a new house on 2.6 acres just outside of town. I thought having a few acres to plant a big garden and keep some chickens would be great… but a few months ago our neighbors listed their 17 acre lot, and it seemed like an even better idea to have a bigger garden and more animals. We now have almost 20 acres with lots of big plans for the future.

Hannah started working as the science teacher at the classical Christian school in our area at the end of the last school year, and this year she’s also teaching music. She’s also been writing some excellent music and playing the ukulele. Samuel is 8 and in second grade. His favorite subject is math, and says he might even want to be a math teacher someday. He loves Legos and Super Mario World (the original Nintendo version). Ruthie is 4 and attends 4K. She likes My Little Pony and most things Samuel is doing. She’s extremely imaginative and creative. I still work as a nurse, and I’m excited to start planting and building our little hobby farm next door.

The 3rd verse of “Joy To The World” is my favorite. I love the imagery of Jesus coming into the world to bless as ‘far as the curse is found’. He took that curse, the one I deserved, on himself. He healed my thorny, sinful heart, and is making all things new. Joy to the world!

For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
shall break forth into singing,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall make a name for the LORD,
an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
-Isaiah 55

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground.
He comes to make his blessings flow
Far as the curse is found.
-Joy to the World”

God also taught me a lot this year, with the move and a new job and a new way of doing school for the kids. Here are a couple of the things God taught (or re-taught) me this year.

I must rely on God’s provision instead of my emotions. At one point shortly after I started my teaching position, I felt like my job and the kids going to school was absolutely not going to work out. I was exhausted, confused, and unsure of everything. I had to remind myself why we decided to try school in the first place: Samuel needs more structure, which I was struggling to provide for him at home, and Ruthie needs more social interaction; we believe that classical Christian education is the best way to educate our children; adjusting to something new takes time and patience and trust in God’s providence. I’m so grateful we decided to stick with school after all. Emotions make good indicators, but poor decision-makers, and sometimes God calls us to do things we don’t feel ready to do. Philippians 2:14 says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

God’s timing is perfect. I feel like this can be an over-used statement, perhaps one of those statements that Christians say without thinking about it too much, but nevertheless it is true. I had wanted to move back to the area in which I grew up, where my parents and sister still lived, before Samuel was born. I didn’t see my grandparents or extended family very often growing up, since they all lived far away, and I didn’t want my kids to have the same experience. I wanted their grandparents and extended family to be a big part of their lives. Brian and I had talked about moving before, but hadn’t considered it as a serious option until a couple years ago. We signed the papers for the builder to begin building our house right before lumber prices increased, found a good church close to where our house would be built, and then after we moved in and were struggling with school at home, a job opened up at the classical Christian school. God brought us to this area at the perfect time. Hosea 10:12 says, “Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.”

Those of you who have been reading my blog for a while know that I like to post my New Year’s Resolutions. I think they’re fun to make, and I like to set specific goals for myself. This year, however, I’d just like to continue working on some of the habits I’ve developed over the last couple years. They include:

Eating intuitively (see this post for more information).

Exercising at least a couple times a week (see this post).

Writing most days of the week, whether that is for this website, school, songs, books, or journals.

Finding ways to get my music out into the world (see this post).

The story of Jesus’ birth in the book of Luke ends with this verse, “But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart” (2:19). May we take the time this year to treasure up and consider all the ways God shows his faithfulness to us!

Photo: As the mom of younger children who like to play with Legos, I step on a lot of them. Here is 2022, made from Legos I found on the floor in the Lego area of our basement.