The last several years I’ve gone on Dayspring.com at the end of the year and taken their quiz to determine a word for my new year. The questions asked are centered around spiritual concepts, so it feels more Spirit directed to me than other types I’ve seen.

In 2023, my word was Freedom. I was anticipatory of how that might play out in my life, though I found myself questioning it after our basement flooded in March 😏.

As the year progressed, and we recovered from the flood, with some insurance coverage, I was able to see how God used even that situation to help us move forward with getting our basement painted and new flooring. That was a small sense of freedom.

I was also experiencing new found freedom in weight loss that I had been trying to find since I turned 50 (but had several life circumstances cause setbacks). My type 2 diabetes medication change to Mounjaro facilitated feelings of freedom in that realm and pushed me forward to meet my goal of losing 50 lbs by October (and now it’s 60 ☺️). This process also helped me gain an understanding about myself and food cravings that set me free from a lifetime of self shaming and judgement from others.

Becoming a grandparent also set free a love in my heart that I had never expected, even when so many had said there’s nothing like being a grandparent. I still can’t truly describe it or fully comprehend it. I guess it’s a love that only a grandparent can know and it’s made my heart so full and freer than it was before.

Towards the end of the year, I felt a release in me that said it was okay to find another job, and what hadn’t been apparent for a very long time became clear. I wanted to return to working in higher education. When an opening came up in December at Wright State for an academic advisor, I applied. They called me in for an interview, and I start my job there on 2/5. This change not only represents Freedom but also my word for 2024, which is Celebrate.

Additionally, I’m celebrating a greater realization of my own life calling and awareness of how I want to live that out. The last year brought me to a deeper confidence in who I am in Christ and God’s purposes for me, a contentment with living out that purpose through my role in my family, my friendships, potential private coaching and spiritual retreats, and hopefully opening our home as a respite for those in need of time to have some rest and refuge.

A year of new freedoms has brought me to a year that is made to celebrate. My hopes for 2024 are centered around these thoughts, focused on positive ideas and joyful moments, looking for all the good the Spirit brings each day and being grateful to God for all that my journey with Jesus brings into my life. Yes, there’s still tough stuff in this world, and no one knows what each day will bring, but my eyes and heart are looking with optimistic realism at everything everywhere all around me and allowing peace to keep me in whatever storms may come.