Happy New Year!

It's the first day of a new year! I sit here in this hammock chair that my husband got me for Christmas (comfiest thing ever!) and watch the train roll across the prairie 3 miles away. It's still so crazy to me how far you can see here. I sip hot coffee and have some time to think as the sun bathes everything in golden light and the sky turns bright blue without a cloud in it. What a glorious morning!

Yesterday as I was making food and cleaning for our New Years Eve hosting, I had a few minutes to sit down and read. As usual, I read the Proverb of the day which happened to be Proverbs 31. I have read this chapter so many times over the years but yesterday it seemed to take on a more poignant meaning. "Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come." She laughs at the time to come. How often I am prone to worry at the time to come, not laugh. "She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue." There's a lot to unpack in this one. But my mind jumps to my husband and my little ones. Kindness, as I train. Kindness, as I communicate. Kindness and wisdom. Two things that will preserve a mother. Two things that will speak of her character. Two things that will see a woman to old age without the bitterness usually accrued by a lifetime of living in a fallen world. "She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness." I think it's interesting that idleness is something you eat. Something you partake of. Something for nourishment. The bread of idleness. What am I eating for nourishment? Merriam-webster defines idleness as lacking worth or basis. Idleness is not, not doing anything. It's doing things that are not of worth. So often we feel idle when we rock a baby, or when we simply sit and read a book to our children. We look around and see so much to be done and feel "idle." Or some women feel like their time at home is idle. "I should be doing something worthwhile with my time!" And yet, if what you are doing has worth, it is not idleness no matter how much you sit in one place.

I also finished the first chapter in The Life-giving Home by Sally Clarkson. It was beautiful and lovely, but I was especially drawn to her words about relationships, community, family, belonging, and fostering the intentionality of pursuing those. "The vision of home as a place to flourish and grow fully into healthy persons has too often been lost in the busyness, distraction, and brokenness of both our secular and our Christian cultures. Add to that the impact of technology in recent years, as social media tends to elevate virtual relationships over real-life, face-to-face encounters. Tweets, profiles, and statuses have replaced personal conversations. Gathering around the table for food and family discussions, lingering on front porches for long conversations over coffee, whiling away evenings with family and friends-all these have been replaced with quick trips through the fast-food drive-in or fifteen-minute meet-ups at a local coffee shop. There is little time or space for instruction about life or discussions about truth. Our souls seem to be filled with the sawdust of a lost generation." -Sally Clarkson

I found these two readings especially impactful on the day I shut down my social media accounts. One focusing on idleness or doing things that did not have worth, one on relationships, especially those face-to-face encounters. It was good to be reminded of what is at stake, while also having my purpose, my "why," worded and confirmed so clearly. So as I walk into this New Year, I want to focus on laughing more at what is coming, to speak with wisdom and kindness, to pursue depth and meaningful real life relationships, and to continue the deep and holy work of building our home for the Glory of God.