I’m finally having that moment.
I’m sitting at a coffee shop in downtown Hardy and can’t stop crying.
(Currently using my blanket scarf to wipe tears from my eyes and avoiding walking to the bathroom in fear someone will see my terrible cry face)
It’s a bad look on me guys.
2016 was soooooo good.
My soul was fed with adventure and community.
My spirit came alive in experiencing my Father in a whole new way, and beginning a journey with Him I didn’t know was possible.
I saw, ate, walked, slept, prayed, cried, and lived in places with people that only happens in dreams.
I had the best year yet.
So here I am, finally grieving what a fabulous year the Lord gave me.
I’m processing the year in a workbook my bestie Sara told me about and reflecting on that the last 12 months held.
I’ve wrote down what I embraced, let go of, discovered, and feared. I’m remembering how I was brave, and most proud of myself. I’m writing down what I’ve learned about myself, celebrated and been most challenged with. I’m reliving my favorite moments, in my favorite cities, with my favorite humans. Normally I am so eager to start a new year off right, I could care less about the past one. This year was different though.
The final page of the workbook read ‘before you finish 2016, take a few minutes to write out anything else you need to say to the old year in the box below. You might like to say some final goodbyes and thank yous…’
Woah.
(Gut punch + my head rocks back in disbelief)
It really is over.
It’s over, but man I’ve never been more proud of the last 365 days.
I hate to see you leave, but I will not accept that years after you will not measure up. You are just the beginning my friend…
So 2016, with tears in my eyes, I’ll bid my final farewell.
Thank you for a year I was proud of. (Every. Single. Bit. Of it.)
Thank you for making me bold, fierce, and dependent on a Heavenly Father who knows what’s best.
Thank you for making me a seasoned adventurer and a professional hostel sleeper.
Thanks for the travel days, long team times, and the weirdest days I’ll ever get to call ‘ministry’.
Thank you for making me dependent on a community that wholeheartedly supported me.
Thank you for allowing me to step back from what I was striving for, and showing me that the Lord’s ways are best.
Thanks for the stamps added to my passport, you delight in my passion for travel.
Thank you for your surprises and challenges, I’m a better person because of it.
Thank you for the best final year in my 20’s. You made me forgive the past and be excited about the future. You showed me healings, new life, grief, and surrender.
Again, Goodbye my favorite year to date.
You’re one that has given me a lifetime of stories and will find myself daydreaming about in the car. You had more hidden gems in you than I could have dreamed, and made me more of myself than any other. You were the best yet…
Honestly.
******P.S. the only thing that made this all possible and the best year yet was my Heavenly Father! He gets all the glory! Thanks Dad!
