2015: Embrace

I unintentionally took a month sabbatical from this blog. Wow – December got busy! It was full of many good things – decorating, cooking and baking, advent activities with our little family and in the community, welcoming my sisters to Cameroon and enjoying time together, camping, horseback riding, Christmas and birthday parties, shopping for and giving gifts, traveling, hosting... I feel both content and exhausted. :-) What a wonderful way to wrap up an awesome and crazy year!

While I have been a person in the past to make WAY too many high and lofty goals at the beginning of a new year, I have recently relaxed about this and now attempt to just use the New Year time to reflect and refocus. I love the idea of focusing on a particular word or concept throughout the year. So for 2015, I chose the word ‘Embrace’. Although this word can have various meanings, my favorite dictionary definition I found online is “to take or receive gladly or eagerly; accept willingly”.

So this year, I would love to learn to...

Embrace the hard. Embrace the fun.

Embrace the chaos and noise.

Embrace my man.

Embrace my role as the wife of a surgeon.

Embrace my sons.

Embrace motherhood of little boys.

Embrace turning 30.

Embrace my family and friends and neighbors.

Embrace both the wonder and challenges of living in Africa.

Embrace another move to a new place by the end of the year.

Embrace this season – with all the dirt, diapers, laundry, sleeplessness, craziness, joy, laughter, and adventure.

Embrace both the moments that slip by all too quickly, and the ones that feel like they will drag on forever.

Embrace discomfort and growth.

Embrace God more deeply.

Thank you Lord, for your constant love and grace that embraces me.

A belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

(If you didn’t receive our Christmas letter via email and/ or would like to receive our monthly updates as well – please just send me a quick email or message and let me know. If you are receiving our updates and want us to quit bothering you with the details of our life – just let me know that as well. :-) )

- Much love from Cameroon! – Jason, Meridith, Nathaniel, and Zeke