2022, A Year in Review

My favorite books of the year were Dane Ortlund’s Deeper, Ann Voskamp’s, Waymaker, and I’m still a big fan of Laura Dave and Kristen Hannah. Deeper is a follow-up to Gentle and Lowly, which has changed the way I view Jesus. Waymaker is for those of us wanting to explore feelings about why life hasn’t quite happened the way we planned, which describes most of this past year. Both books have changed how I view God and have deepened my walk with the Lord. I couldn’t finish The Midnight Library even though so many people love it. I confess the same for Everything Sad is Untrue, but I’m ready to give it another chance this year. Resolution one.

I joined Burn, a new gym for me, and I went 122 times last year, which includes the time I took two months off because of a shoulder injury. Did I lose weight? Not at all, but did I get stronger? For sure. I really like real cream in my coffee and salted Kerrygold butter on warm bread.

I turned 38 and I feel it, some days more than most, like those spent in physical therapy—a steady appointment for six months. You’d be amazed at how much strain it puts on a rotator cuff to pick up children who just want to be held.

My word for the year was planted, but by April, it felt less like growing and more like buried.

Over the summer we went as a family of four to London and from there to Devon, England. Amidst a shutdown at Heathrow, we returned, thankfully with all of our bags and children. I learned to see my child with new eyes after this trip. I learned that much of travelling with young children is laying in a dark room everyone is sharing, pretending to be asleep so that they will sleep. I learned that I should always bring more snacks and that encouragement from another struggling parent can make me cry, hot tears into my lap in a busy cafeteria.

I learned that I will seek out the help my child needs, and that God will answer when we ask for help. While I’ve never quite felt so alone in my darkest moments, in the light of day I know that people are praying and that God is working.

About two months after that I went to a conference and I found the breath of life I needed. Ironically enough, their theme for the conference was Planted, Not Buried.

I learned that I can still teach. I love high schoolers—the confidence and insecurity packed into moments of curiosity and brilliance with some saltiness on the side.

Here’s to more connection and less correction, more vulnerability and less shame, more community and less isolation, more delight and less disappointment, more calm and less chaos, even when everything is spinning. Cheers to you, 2023.

Inspired by Katie Blackburn