It’s interesting, as we enter the final hours of 2023, to consider the blessings and the hardships of this year. My family has experienced a lot of change with jobs and a new house. Just today I ate a few interesting little samples from my garden. One plant has leaves that taste like a Granny Smith apple, and my pigeon pea plant has tasty pods that are ripening for the first time. The trees we’ve planted look great too, but are not yet producing fruit. Still, the house and property leave me feeling sort of overwhelmed. Our vision for it is a long-term project and it is sometimes hard to celebrate the small victories. There’s a lot of wildlife to contend with and the poisonous snake sightings I could especially do without.
Yet I have a longing to be committed to a place. We’ve moved around and I have sincerely loved everywhere we’ve lived. Our earliest days were in New Orleans, then the DC area which still feels a bit like home, a brief time back in Florida (where we met, married, and Will grew up), back to DC and then 6.5 years on our lovely mountain in Tennessee (so much to love about living there). But we do just adore Florida. We love the beach. We love the sunshine. We love the relaxed vibe and the ability to be outside every day of the year, in flip-flops no less. Now, we have a church that is exactly what we want and deepening relationships with friends and neighbors. I am not ruling out another adventure elsewhere if the right opportunity comes along, but I like the idea of Palm Beach County being home base.
Of course the world continued to unravel in 2023. We have learned more about how much we’ve been lied to. We’ve learned how much anti-Semitism there is in the world. We’ve learned anew about the atrocities of war. We’ve learned that maybe we were naive to believe in the ideal of free speech. Will we ever return to a true meritocracy in academia? Many I have admired from afar have fallen in ways that would have seemed impossible just a few years ago. A Francis Collins interview was made public this week where he admitted that public health officials discounted the collateral damage of the 2020 lockdowns. But any sentient being knew from the first moment that lockdowns would be on the backs of the poor. Lockdowns made an emphatic political statement: some lives matter more than others. It was despicable. The assertion that the effects were unknown is abominable. The lack of ownership and true remorse from Collins and his ilk cannot be overlooked.
On a more personal level, I have multiple friends who are facing incredible heartache. In the midst of such pain, it is difficult to even offer a hopeful word. Yet we know, as the Psalmist put it, God will redeem our lives from the pit and crown us with love and compassion. (Psalm 103:4)
As I look to the New Year, I am buoyed by the clean slate ahead. In 2024, I may be a disciplined, organized person, despite my five decade track record. I have been listening to Atomic Habits and I am realizing how much I need to focus on little changes. It truly is Bird by Bird. The hare really does lose to the consistent, albeit slow, progress of the tortoise. My hope is that my 2024 will be the year of tortoise. I'll share one little tidbit with you. I do word puzzles with my siblings on a daily basis (Wordle and Quordle), but in 2024 I am not going to let myself do the puzzles until I have completed my daily Bible reading (here’s the plan I am using).
In sum, we are where we always are — pulled between “Come Lord Jesus” and the desire to let our light for Him shine brighter and better in the days ahead.
“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5: 14-16.
Digging Deeper:
What strikes you the most as you reflect on 2023?
What are some specific changes you plan to implement in 2024?
How can you let your light shine more brightly for Christ in the New Year?
Here’s to the year of the tortoise !