Year-end review

2016. Many on social media are "over it." To be fair, the quick succession of passing of Carrie Fisher and then her mother was quite heart-breaking, and I can't begin to fathom the grief of her daughter. In my own life it has brought its own beautiful chaotic messiness. So here's to 2016:

• I started what I consider to be my first "big-kid" full-time position in a field I studied. This was a huge step forward for me. Though probably not where I will be long-term, it is a great place to begin. Work, for better or worse, probably dominates 2016 for me. The reality of my work is that it is also a ministry, which adds a completely different dynamic. There are souls involved, which can be a heavy burden. But it is one of great joy as well. I had many firsts, some failures, a few accomplishments. I have been building relationships with the kids and teens under my charge and look forward to continuing to develop a program that will be sustainable even after I depart some years down the road. The youth director before me did a great job in implementing good classroom materials (her strength was much more in education, which I do envy a bit at times), yet an overall structure for the program has been sorely lacking, and so I continue to try to develop something that will be lasting. On a smaller scale, I survived coordinating my first summer trip with the kids as well as our fall excursion to the Kansas City Youth Conference. I am in the midst of summer 2017 planning and scheming new ideas for the next school year already.
• Admittedly, a lot of spring 2016 before my uncle's and dad's illnesses is now a blur. Obviously starting a job has something to do with that, but June 2016 will forever be the month that saw my family tested and rocked by health issues. My uncle now, pray God, is interceding for us, and my dad made a remarkable recovery. Shortly after, the son of dear family friends, who was a childhood schoolmate and a great seminarian, was taken at a young age. It's so hard to understand why these things happen. If we dwell on it too heavily we end up thinking in circles. We must trust in the outcomes and even blessings which follow.
• We have a while before we have any type of major wedding anniversary, but that doesn't mean that the odd years of marriage in-between don't matter, even if we are at the beginnings. We celebrated our 2nd anniversary in May 2016 with a snazzy dinner. It is ever a learning process. While getting married is discerned, I don't think it is stressed often enough that discernment continues on into marriage itself. We are constantly discerning together various issues that relationships bring...healthy communication, financial goals, growing our family, struggles and sins and overcoming them, and overall becoming saints. While there may be days I question God about how He has lead me here, they can't beat the overwhelming moments of peace that my husband brings into my life. The cheesy phrase that he isn't perfect, but he's perfect for me certainly rings true.
• Of course there are a million other moments that fill in between these themes, both personal and of a more global scale. We do, after all, live in the world. What the repercussions of 2016 will bring will be interesting to say the least. I don't think it was truly any better or worse than any other year. The constant documentation and rapid sharing of life on social media has something to do with the social conscious that many people just aren't aware of. Any other year is just as eventful, but the scale of media is just so vast now that we find things out and it just seems more overwhelming. 

So 2016, I bid you a hearty adieu. Bring on 2017.