Just now, I opened the blog and got ready for a new entry, only to be halted when I saw that a looming and knowing number served as the date for its sad revival. January 1st. Oh no. Whatever you promise to get done on January first never gets done. Aren't there statistics out there about how gym memberships are always up at the first of the year, nicotine patches are being sold by the pallet, and packs of Rosetta Stone are being purchased with the intent of finally picking up another language because all those kids in Europe already know at least five? For me, resolutions always looked eerily similar to the list Nick finds at the end of the Great Gatsby. I am forever haunted by the adolescent Gatsby's planned routine of exercise and intellect that I've always thought mirrored my own aspirations: brains and beauty. Yes, to have it all!
I must tell myself that the blog is not a resolution. Because it's not. I have given up on resolutions. The only one I ever kept successfully was to keep the Sabbath and it was the best decision I ever made. I'm not sure what else could top that. I have been living these past two or three years with one day of the week set aside for reading, praying, socializing, crafting, snoozing, and television. All other days of the week can be occupied with work if they need to be. But Sundays (or really more like Saturdays now) are special and they are set aside like I feel like they should be.
Since I've kept a New Year's Resolution for at least a year, I know I can cross that particular notion off the collective, cosmic to-do list. And once that is crossed off, why rub it in people's faces by doing it again? Hence forth, we will not call the blog a resolution.
Let's trade it for another word with only slightly different connotation. It is an aspiration. I aspire to write creatively and share my thoughts. I aspire to remain connected with family and friends near and far.
My husband and I have just experienced a very bittersweet goodbye when we drove away from his childhood home for the last time. His parents sold it, packed it up, and moved about 12 hours away from sweaty South to frigid North to begin a new adventure in a ministry that is based there. We are incredibly excited for them and their new mission, but we are equally grieving the loss of my in-laws being so close to us. Still, we tell ourselves, as my mother-in-love said in her email, it's not China! And for that, we're very grateful.
If there would be anything to resolve to be, it would be grateful. In all situations, with all people, in every day, to find something to be grateful for would be a beautiful thing. I am grateful for wonderful in-laws, however far away they may be. I'm grateful for wonderful parents who send me sweet and encouraging text messages to start my day.
I am grateful for a fantastic husband, though right now he is in another room because he can't stand the sound of typing when it is the only noise and once I finish this blog post I will tell him it's all over now and he can come back in, and he will join me in our cuddly cozy bed, which I'm also grateful for, and our cat will whine and be very ungrateful when he stops petting her to go to sleep. All in all, it's a good life, annoying typing noises and goodbyes aside. I love where we are and I wouldn't trade it for the world. What would I do with the world if I got it anyway?
No comments:
Post a Comment