Moving to a new blog site!

For anyone who may stumble across this blog site, or who may have read my blog in the past who still frequents this site, you may have noticed I haven't posted here in a while.  There are several reasons for this, but to summarize it all in one neat little sentence... 2017 was a crazy, hectic year for me.  To say that it was not my favorite year is an understatement.  It seemed to be one emergency after another, and I do believe I added to my ever growing abundance of gray hairs more this past year than any other so far.  Let's just say I was more than happy to close the door of 2017 and have eagerly opened the door to 2018 with great expectations and the promise of new mercy, new grace, and a clean slate.  Even though there were many things out of my control I believe I can personally do better this year.  I am believing for bigger and better things and have given myself 14 personal goals to carry with me into the new year, some of which I will share with you by the end of this post.

One thing I am looking forward to in the new year is trying to squeeze in more time for writing, which happens to be a passion I share with my husband.  He has started a brand new website this year called Treach the Word (which is a word play on our last name, and the fact that he's a preacher/teacher) and I have decided to take him up on his offer for a joint effort in out writing pursuits.  It is with that new chapter of writing that I will be closing this one.  I have enjoyed my amateur attempts at blogging with this site, which has mainly been just a few of the colorful ramblings of my mind brought to life in simple sentences.  I look back on these posts (which have very little to do with the exact happenings around me at those times) and can immediately recall that particular season of my life.  I learned so many lessons those few years, and went through some of the most tumultuous storms of my life.  But the main thing is, I came through them in the end.  I'm still standing, I'm still me, and I'm still writing.  (just not as often)

So... what do I want to take with me into 2018?  Peace.  I want and crave peace.  That's a pretty broad term, and it covers oh so much, but I have a deep, burning desire for this coming year to be peaceful.  Again, some things are within my control, other things aren't, but whatever may come this year I hope and pray that I claim it with elegance, with the right attitude, and with grace.  God may see fit to throw my way some of the hardest tests of my life this year, I have no idea.  But if He thinks I can handle it, then so be it.  I just want to be able to overcome it all in a way that is most pleasing to Him.

I mentioned that I jotted down a few ideas to take with me into the new year.  I'll leave you with some of them.

1. Do what you know you need to do.
2. Start the day right and end it right.
3. Don't be afraid to be who you are.  It's ok to be you.
4. Pray more, yell less.
5. Never leave a room empty handed.
6. Forgive yourself.
7. Be the friend you wish you had.
8. Make your smiles contagious.
9. Keep the soil of your heart tilled and turned. Bitterness is a root, dig deep.

It's been a pleasure having you read my blog.  I pray that I somehow left you with a smile on your face, a thought in your head, and a hope in your heart.  God bless and keep you always.  Please, come and visit me at Treach the Word sometime.

Your friend,

Jennifer

Saying Goodbye

Why is life so full of goodbyes? I guess that's one of those cosmic questions that will never really be answered. How we love to say hello! As a registered nurse and as a mother three times over, I have been privileged to watch new life come into the world, and there are no words that I can think of to adequately describe that beautiful experience. In the same breath, I have to say that I have also seen many, many goodbyes. I was a hospice nurse for two and a half years, and that time was by far the most challenging professional role in my eleven years as a nurse. I've seen goodbyes in just about every shape, form and fashion.

I've often marveled at the brave women during the pioneer years. They married, sometimes out of love, sometimes out of necessity, packed up everything they had, and said goodbye to everyone they grew up with, most of the time never to see or hear from them again. With no phones, telegraphs, postal system, or any way to get word back home, their families watched them leave with nothing but a prayer that they would reach their intended destination. That alone is such a devastating idea, but then you have to realize there were grandchildren they never met, or even knew about. It amazes me, living in today's world of modern conveniences, how they endured such pain. We have cell phones, Facebook, Twitter, web cams, email, everything imaginable to keep us connected with friends and family, and yet we still struggle with goodbye. I honor those unnamed heroes that gave so much of themselves, worked tirelessly under unfathomable hardships, cared for their children and husbands day in and day out, many doing so without a friend for miles. What amazing, selfless women. Thinking of such, I feel a bit guilty for my own whining in my present changing predicaments.

But, there is something to be said about the bonds of friendship that make goodbyes so difficult. How painful, yet how wonderful, to love and be loved so much that separation causes grief. I would rather go through this life and grieve over separation than to be spared the pain because I never had the friend to lose in the first place. And when it comes down to it, can you really lose a friend? Those friends who are closest and dearest to our hearts, those friends that love us as much as their own families, those friends who would give anything and everything within their power for our happiness and fulfillment, those are the friends we never really lose. And to those of my friends, I won't say goodbye to for now, but rather, I'll see you later.