The end of Chapter One

This year is almost over.

This is the year that I called Chapter One. We may be 50 somethings and we may have been married 35 years and we may have moved many times but even so..... it was right to call this year Chapter One.

This last month has epitomized what this year is about.

As Thanksgiving and Christmas approached we stopped to talk about starting over with these holidays. So many times down through the years these holidays have been subject to any thing other than what would be lifegiving to our own little family - for many reasons that I won't try to deal with. Yes, sometimes it was great - but a pattern of a great holiday followed by a not so great holiday gets old.

This year Larry and I talked about starting again. We talked about where WE want to go with these holidays. We walked in agreement with each other letting our hearts connect in purpose and direction. That's bigger than you might know, dear reader, and there is such hope and peace in that.

The other significant thing about these last two months is that God dug deeper into the deepest parts of me by turning my attention to the issue of shame. This was a hard one to tackle but absolutely necessary to understand why I could not seem to get over some things and why I kept reacting to people and words and situations. (I've concluded that I am a very, very deep person. : ) )

So I am here at the end of chapter one with a better understanding of hope.

I'm looking forward to chapter two.