Keeping the tradition alive! Here are some good gifts I’ve been grateful for in 2024.
-Matt’s persistent, consistent patience
-Seeing the first two Abigail books in readers’ hands
-Returning to favorite vacation spots
-Discovering the joy of a well-produced
audiobook
-Hosting friends from near and far
-Hearing from readers and marveling at God’s kindness!
-Sweetwater’s hot cocoa with soy milk
-How much of life can be joyfully lived lying in bed (praise God for technology)
-The genuine questions and compassion of my Sunday School girls
-My favorite people’s laughs
-Relaxed TV shows set in beautiful places
-That a banana chocolate muffin can be an answer to prayer
-Doctors who evidence Christ and care
-The blue bookshelf Matt built me
-Indy’s fake limp
-Well-timed words spoken, sent in cards, read online and found in books
-Legos with loved ones
-Singing along to eclectic mixes (hello Wicked, Sovereign Grace, Ed Sheeran, Judah and the Lion, CityAlight, and so on…)
-Christmas cards
-Ruby, my hot wheels (IYKYK)
-Watching the sunset
-Having God’s Word come to mind unexpectedly
-Friends who become family
-Dreaming up stories, poems and prose
-Matt’s tiny, square scrambled eggs
-Comfy t-shirts with words on them that make me smile
-The incredible body of Christ caring for us when I can’t
-Paper planners
-Walks in gorgeous scenery
-The duck who made the neighborhood pool its home all of spring
-Skilled and sympathetic insurance representatives
-Rain on the windowpane
-Heatpads
-Freshcut flowers
-Hearing how others are doing
-Getting to participate in and help write the Women’s Bible Study at church
-Handheld pork pie in York
-Getting to see and meet so many siblings in Christ at TGCW
-How encouraging little gestures are, even just being told someone is thinking of you too
-Looking back through photos
-Mini Christmas trees
-Getting to be friends with whole families (little ones included!)
-Wingspan, Orlog, Battleship, Guess Who and other games
-Being able to understand a little more Russian when I hear it
-75+ books read this year
-Psalm 103, Colossians 3, 2 Corinthians 4
-How good life can be, by the grace of God, even when it’s also hard
“Praise the Lord, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits” – Psalm 103:2
Happy new year, friends!