Paige and Michael are moving out of state in a few weeks, and we have spent some time sorting her college art projects to consolidate the things she wants to take or leave behind. She is a skilled illustrator, and she also has a healthy collection of portraits and figure drawings that I admire. She agreed to let me keep some of these. But how do I choose?
I will always be thrilled to display my children’s work, no matter their age.
We had some dreary days this week, again. I chased sunlight by working with gold and yellow thread and spending an afternoon with a friend.
I chased it by reading a novel by Amor Towels, a favorite author.
I chased it by listening to a new piece of classical music every day. (See the book, Year of Wonder by Clemency Burton-Hill.)
I found sunlight as I wrote out a story from my dad’s life.
I found it as I studied about the mission of John the Baptist. (See The Life and Teachings of Jesus Christ From Bethlehem to the Sermon on the Mount, edited by Richard Neitzel Holzapfel and Thomas Wayment.)
This week, rather than put away the Christmas cards, I hung them on an empty wall in my kitchen where they will stay. The faces on the cards feel like sunlight to me.
Use me, God. Show me how to take who I am, who I want to be, and what I can do, and use it for a purpose greater than myself.
Martin Luther King Jr.
We are experiencing a fullness of living, with its challenges, loss, connections, fun, and opportunities to serve. Have I cried this week? Oh, yes. I have also laughed, worked, and tried to repair my mistakes. In my daily journal of God’s tender mercies, I wrote during a particularly difficult time last week that my family was a great comfort. Because of them, I had hope for a softer, gentler time ahead. It came as our older children gathered for Sunday dinner and we talked about the influence of a good friend who passed away. It came as we listened to Tim talk about his missionary work and show an interest in his siblings. It came as Richard, Mark, and I spent all weekend together, living.
To keep goin’ in January, these are some of my stategies:
Take a mid-morning nap after a night of poor sleep.
Turn off the phone for a while.
Do one difficult thing, followed by one fun thing.
Take time to thank Heavenly Father.
Clean one surface, then another, but not everything in one session.
Take a short walk.
Do a simple good deed for a stranger.
Focus just on the current hour, and not on the demands of the rest of the day or week.
Retreat into good memories by looking at photo albums or handling reminders of good days.
Celebrate the present moment, and avoid envy for a different life.
Sip a favorite drink slowly, or savor a favorite meal.
Adhere to a good bedtime.
Read the news only once a day.
Write a meaningful note.
Connect with a friend.
Allow joy to be part of the day, even when things aren’t resolved.
Avoid making a sweeping judgment about life based on a tough stretch of events.
Trust that a loving God is helping and will continue to help.
I read my planner for pleasure. The cover needs to have a certain feel, and the pages need to accommodate my planning style. This year, I shopped many stores to find just the book. It is my biggest tangible tool for progress. (There are several intangibles, all related to faith practices.) I always have a plan, and often the plan is to do nothing. Still, the New Year invites the concept of resolutions. Should I be making resolutions beyond my intricate system of journals, calendars, planners, targeted goals, and dreams? đ I believe resolutions might be for people who are not like me. Don’t mistake me, I have my plan, but I also know how to throw out the plan pretty freely. I write everything in pencil, unless it is a journal of what I have accomplished. This is where I use ink. I recommend this practice.
I work in my paper planner so much, I identify as “a planner.” Being a planner has taught me to be forgiving to myself and to trust the process of small, incremental steps. I don’t feel a lot of personal guilt for things that I can’t accomplish in a day, maybe because I am always looking forward. I definitely have times when I erase goals and move them to a later time slot or cancel them when I fail. Failure is part of the overall plan.
And let’s talk about the word of the year trend among women in my culture. I can see the value, really I can, and I admire the foresight and inspiration that women have about their upcoming year. One word seems inadequate to the many things I lack. Just one? I can think of many. But maybe I am overthinking it…Likely…Absolutely. If cornered with this question, my one word that would inspire me to improve would be Christ. Every single year. But this word is not really playing by the rules.
We bought a new television for Christmas, and this began the rearrangement of chairs, tables, pictures, plants, decor, floor coverings, power cords, dishes, and bookshelves throughout the house. We are mostly making do with the furniture we own, so this has taken some trial and error to find the “next” perfect place for each piece. One morning, after days of shifting, I looked over the rooms and I was finally satisfied. If our furniture could click like a padlock, this is the sound the living room would have made. I’m just going to own that it was kind of fun to rethink the rooms where I spend my days.
This list is a personal thing for me to share, as these books were with me through all that I experienced this year. Whether I liked a book or not, I gained something from each. I will forever associate certain books with the landmarks of my year, big and small.
To celebrate Tim’s birthday, Richard and I made a temple appointment. As I finished our temple session and entered the celestial room, I was greeted by a temple worker as I never have before. He simply said “Hi,” not a more formal “hello” or reverent nod, but a joyful “Hi!” It made me think of the welcome I hope for in heaven, just a familiar “Hi.”
Last Sunday at dinner, I gave a simple baby in a manger to each of our children for Christmas, a reminder that Christmas takes different forms during our lives, and sometimes it feels incomplete, with a loss or absence of a loved one. I have learned that Christmas can still be celebrated without the full scene. The simplest Nativity, without any of the other characters surrounding Christ, is still complete because of the Baby in the manger. Christ is the only essential, and he is always there. I also believe He wants a familiarity with us, a relationship that will continue forever. I believe he also wants to greet us with a familiar, “Hi,” someday.
I have come across some good entertainment this year that I want to remember and share, and since I am here on the couch with a head cold, I will tell you about some of them.
Are you a fan of A Christmas Carol? I am! I watch the Alastair Sim version of the movie (1951) each year. This year, I tried for the first time the George C. Scott version (1984), which was also good. I didn’t like the ghosts as well, but I really liked Roger Rees’s performance of his nephew Fred. Scott’s performance of Scrooge is understated and believable.
Other films I have enjoyed this year:
Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story. I liked that the film showed the backstory of the characters and neighborhood better than the original film version. I loved the dancing and the colors. Maria was perfect. Riff was tragic and raw.
Amazon’s Rings of Power series. Richard and I loved it. I had to close my eyes to the violence of episode 6, but other than that, this is our favorite series of the year. The writing is excellent, and we liked so many of the characters. I am a Tolkien fan, and I think this series is a worthy tribute to his work. I won’t give spoilers, but as part of a mythology full of Christian themes, this is good at showing how the Deceiver operates.
PBS Masterpiece’s All Creatures Great and Small, Series 2. I have read the books and enjoyed them. I am a fan of the original 1978 PBS series with Robert Hardy and Peter Davidson, so it took some time to get to know and love the new cast. Mrs. Hall is my favorite. I remember now that I have mentioned this before on the blog, that the sets are magnificent. Skeldale house is a jewel box in this new version, and I could spend a lot of time studying all the objects in the rooms. The wall colors, the little details, such as Tricky Woo’s chaise, the art, and the kitchen are beautiful. The actor who plays James Herriot is young, believable, and likeable.
The Chosen, Series 2. I like how it shows that Jesus had mortal struggles, including his labor to bring His doctrine into words that people could understand. I don’t love his disciples sometimes. But that is a lesson, too. He uses imperfect people to help spread His word. A favorite episode is the one where Jesus heals the man who sits at the pool of Bethesda. The conversation they have is profound. I also like watching how each disciple decides to follow Him. I don’t love everything, but I like the series enough to recommend it.
Top Gun Maverick. We loved it. All of us. Tom Cruise is able to parody his character, which helped me like him. The movie has all the elements that people like.
We have a strict canon of Christmas films, but we have introduced a few new films to that canon in recent years:
Disney’s Snowball Express. This is not really Christmasy, but my friend Charlene K gave this to our family a few years ago and told us this was a beloved family tradition, and now it is one of ours. Harry Morgan delivers some of the best comedy. We just laugh and laugh. I am giving it to each of my siblings over the next few years of gift exchanges, it is that fun. I think it can be viewed on Disney Plus.
The Man Who Invented Christmas. This is the story of how Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol. The characters of the book assemble in his study and interact with him as he creates their stories. Scrooge is played by Christopher Plummer, so this is excellent.
The Christmas Card (Hallmark 2006). This is a warm hug, and I have been known to watch it midyear, as needed.
This is probably getting old, so here are just a few more (non-Christmas) movies we liked.
The Woman in Gold (Netflix) for art lovers
The Boy who Harnessed the Wind (Netflix) for the acting
Fisherman’s Friends (Amazon Prime) if you want to see the underdogs of music win.
