Hello, Goodbye

I’m glad 2021 is over. It was a hard year, harder even than 2020. If I had that information this time last year, I’d have sat my heinie down and cried. I could recount all the things I learned in 2021 and how different I feel on the other side of it. Truthfully though, I don’t feel like it.

Normally, I start the shiny new year off with a trailing list of plans, goals, and to-dos.

I’m very organized and goal oriented and I like checking off all the boxes on all the pretty pieces of paper. But the 2nd day of this shiny new year feels different to me. Yes, I have goals and ideas for the year ahead, but one word keeps pressing into my heart with every beat: contentment, contentment, contentment.

I’ve spent the past few years with so much wanting.

Wanting more, wanting different. Not all wanting is bad. Not all having is good. This year, I feel God asking me to just sit. Be still. Stay, and tend, and grow. Use what you have…look away from what you don’t. Take each next step as it comes. Stop trying to run ten steps ahead to see what’s next.

I assure you, I acted just like the rowdy toddlers you know when I was given such advice. And just like the toddlers you know, I wore myself out fighting, and flailing, and throwing myself on the floor in protest until I was ready to surrender and see if God does, in fact, know what he’s talking about.

One baby step I’m taking toward contentment this year is simply staying off social media.

I’m planning on this blog being the only place I connect online. I’ve never been good at keeping up with the pace of Instagram and other platforms that require daily engagement and short snippets of life. I prefer the longer form of blogs and the freedom to connect less, even if just once a week. I can’t handle the constant “feed” of other people’s lives via social media, and I know my soul needs a break from the scroll.

I hope this time next year, I’ll be able to say I walked peacefully and presently through these days — with joy and contentment, no matter the road we were on.

What do you hope for in the year ahead? I look forward to connecting with you more consistently here going forward.

Sincerely, Kari