I can, with one eye squinted, take it all as a blessing.

Flannery O’Connor, “The Habit of Being”

2019 was part dumpster fire, part slow moving merry-go-round with no off switch, and part tie-dye unicorn cake.

Every discernible emotion on the human spectrum of emotion has paraded through my conscience like the giant floats in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. It began with grief, fear, and anxiety, and is ending with joy, expectancy, and gratitude. Had the beginning not been a swirling eddy of uncertainty and fear, I would not have known the fierce love of my tribe who rallied around me and walked right alongside me. Had I not lost my job so unexpectedly, I would not have known the deep joy of picking up the mantle of ministry again.

It’s been a difficult year, but I am grateful. With every loss, or perceived loss, there was so much more to gain, even if it came packaged differently or arrived later than I expected.
It was a difficult year, but it was so, so good.

Out of the cacophony of random suffering and chaos that can mark human life, the life artist sees or creates a symphony of meaning and order. A life of wholeness does not depend on what we experience. Wholeness depends on how we experience our lives.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Peace be the journey.