Saturday, December 23, 2017

Christmas 2017


This year...has been a challenging year for many, ourselves included. We have worked at strengthening our supports - seeking community, finding a new church, enjoying our apartment, focusing on what is important - but even this has been hard at times. Recently I heard someone talking about how moments of grace and hope can often be found in the wilderness. She encouraged us to look for signs of hope noting that often those that most embody hopefulness in the wilderness have several things in common:
1. They have fully accepted that they are in the wilderness - even if they don't like it. They are not going to spend one more ounce of energy railing that the wilderness exists but rather they simply ask where God is in the midst and how am I supposed to live?
2. They are able to speak the hardest truth in a way that everyone can hear - not just appealing to either side - See Bryan Stevenson, Shane Claiborne and others.
3. They have tapped into something that sustains them - they keep following, looking, reminding all of us that this is not the end of the story.
I admit I have spent much of this year, not being able to do #1 even while I hold to #3 that what we see around us is not the end of the story. May it be so. 
This year our card has a few moments and reminders of hope, of breath, of peace and goodness - all things we long for as we wait and anticipate. 
Merry Christmas!
Duncan and Andrea