2023 Good List

2023 was a bit of a wild ride, but there’s a lot on my good list. I could have kept going, but here are some good gifts and joys from this year. (Thank you, Lord!)

2023 Good List

-Matt’s persistent patience

-Seeing the Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce + the Hoover Dam

-All the prayers and grace surrounding my gallbladder issues + surgery

-70 books read this year

-God created such silly surreal things as toadstool hoodoos

-Finding out when I’ve had enough and more struggles still come, God’s care is actually enough

-Getting to spend time in person with friends from afar

-Listening to Matt read out loud

-Local friends that feel like family

-The s’mores cookies at Jacob Lake Inn store

-Friends who welcomed me weekly between work and Bible study

-Getting to know some really cool kids + laughing with them over all sorts of silly things

-Writing words reflecting on God’s Word that helped me rest in Jesus when I was weary + getting to hear those words helped others do the same

-The words of friends on their blogs, in their books, in conversations, phone calls, texts, and even sharing in the “I’m Tired, Lord” project (Proverbs 16:24)

-Exploring Savannah and trying Beignets

-Friends’ indulgence of my love of hobnobs 

-The series on Romans our pastors have been preaching

-Building legos 

-When the chapter I read was exactly what I needed that moment + God knew it

-Getting to know better the people we serve alongside at church

-Eating pizza and cake and nuggs and PEANUT BUTTER again!

-Charlotte being the place I’ve lived the longest in my adult life + the relief it is to not be in a hurry in deepening relationships because Lord willing, we’re here for a good long time

-Matt’s laugh that never gets old even though it’s rare a day goes by without hearing it

-Getting more into bird-watching

-New Albums from CityAlight, Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors and Ed Sheeran

-Playing board games at dinner

-Finally reading The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness 

-Seeing Switchfoot in Concert

-Finishing all of Jane Austen’s novels

-Going to the show Cookin’

-Biographies like The Churchill Girls, Being Elisabeth Elliot, and Stories of My Life by Katherine Paterson

-Our annual just-us trip to Charleston, shamelessly eating at Carmella’s daily

-Getting to work on a precious and oh-so-fun writing project, alongside some precious and oh-so-fun people 

-Conviction about slowing down

-Walks on my favorite trail in all seasons

-Watching All Creatures Great and Small

-Friends we can be absurdly silly with (have you heard of a complaint coalition? How about the game Ransom Notes? How about cooking an actual meal in a hotel room? How about games made up of cotton balls and little else?)

-Relaxing in our neighborhood pool

-Learning some Russian and Japanese, brushing up on Spanish, and conflating them all ridiculously

-Attempting a watercolor or two

-England (too much to say!)

-Seeing the ways God answers my prayers for loved ones and loves them far better than I can

-A screen door to let the sunshine and breeze in

-The See’s Chocolates Matt gets me for Christmas

-Hiding bits of God’s Word in my heart, like Psalm 121 and Philippians 3:7-14


“I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” – Ph 3:14


Happy New Year, friends!

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