12/31/2011

The silence surrounding me right now is quite comforting. There is the occasional fireworks moment in the distance, but my $2.99 earbuds are successfully masking even that. I am the only person still awake in my home with one hour left in this year. I began the third and final panel in the (for me) ginormous afghan knitting project I began the day after Christmas, but after knitting two rows, I decided to do this instead.

I won’t lie to you. 2011, in many ways, has been a beating for me. It’s been full of activity and change and having to prove myself on big, expensive exams. It’s been a year that hurtled me out of the teaching profession into the counseling/intervention profession. And while I feel like I always peppered my days as a teacher with interventions that went above and beyond the academic curriculum, they did not consume my days like they do in my new job. I love the job, and I am so thankful to have been given the opportunity to give it a go — but I have a lot to learn.

I will say, though, that overall, I feel like I have risen above. There remains a fair amount of difficulty in day-to-day life, but as always, I know none of it is more than can be handled by God on my behalf. Here’s the rub: I need your prayers and support and wise counsel more than ever.