2017

It's time for me to go to sleep now, and I will be doing that soon. I've taken my cold medicine and something to help me feel drowsy because I had a rather lengthy nap after coming home from work early again this afternoon. I felt tired and achy and made up my mind it was good that they'd not needed me to stay until closing. I'd fallen asleep to the sound of a family interacting downstairs and woke to the voice of my grandson playing with his young uncle. My eyes, swollen and sticky from congestion, preferred to stay shut, but I knew I would never sleep at night if I didn't pull myself out of bed.

It's been a strange kind of week. One day blurs into the next and I find myself purposely concentrating on what day of the week this is. It hardly seems possible tomorrow is Friday. By the time I return to work on Tuesday, another short week ahead, the New Year will have begun. 2018. What does it have in store for me? What adventures will it bring?

2017 was a hard year. An impossibly difficult one. God has not left me alone or to myself. He is, rather, growing me in ways I never imagined. I've found in Him the strength to go hard places and do hard things. He has made me courageous in spite of fear and strong in spite of weakness. He has filled my days with just the right amounts of people and activity, given me a job I enjoy, and love and affection to go with it. I have new friends and deepened relationships with old ones. My family has begun the long and arduous process of healing and recovery. If you are the praying type, I covet your prayers for us. God knows exactly what we need and when, and He is providing. When I am lonely, I am never really alone because He is never far away. It's been a hard year, but a good one too.