Canyons and summits, hellos and good-byes... A good year.

I'm very aware of time. When a new month turns over, I take notice and become sentimental about what's happened. And of course New Year's Eve is a concentration of that. This past year, for me, has been a turning point. A launch pad. A runway. A catalyst. The details of where I feel myself being propelled are nonexistant. I just don't know. But I'm excited.

However, I look back at the year and see. Retrospection is a good thing. My Best Friend has remained faithful, involved, active. Not always understandable. Hardly ever expected. Sometimes I doubted. And yet I see this great work that He is doing all over the place, and I see a handful of times where I got to be a part of it. And He's changed me.

I thought about putting up different highlights of the past year of my life. Then thought against it. I never remember it all, but I am the product of it. Those Women of Vision at school did the clothes drive with me for Iraq. They showed me some hefty things in life and people. My trip to California with the family giving my tired heart room to breathe taught me much. Going for walks and jogs with the girls in my hall at all hours of the night through the country roads of Ohio.... I did portraits of kids this summer, learning to capture moments of happiness in chaos and help others savor those moments gave me the idea to do the same with life. But then the highlights get more and more personal. Too personal. From the end of July til right now, the mess my life has been shaken into, and the honesty I had to gain to come to grips with those pieces... It's brilliant. Just too personal.

Yes, this year was fantastical. Almost unreal. Ideal. Broken and mended. Really high, frustratingly low. Irreversible. Loved it.

I swam in both the Pacific Ocean and the Irish Sea. I went down parts of the Grand Canyon and explored some of the depths I can experience on my own. There were lots of new introductions, and some good-byes that actually tore my insides. I found myself at the top of the Eiffel Tower and the top of my world. Met people from every continent and became friends and family with them all. And there was much that was not so glamorous. I eventually made my way back to my home... on the couch with Emma, in the gym with Hannah, talking with my Mom stopped in some random parking lot, and talking personality types with Dad while he made pancakes.

This is the year that the Lord has made. I can rejoice. :) So can you.