Happy New Year, a Little Late

I didn’t intend to take a blogging hiatus. It just happened. I could blame this on many things: a desire for family time when my sister was in town, large chunks of my day spent away from home over the past couple weeks, the busyness of the holidays, etc., etc. But the real reason, I think, that I haven’t picked up my metaphorical pen in the past three weeks is that I haven’t found anything to say that didn’t sound like a self-absorbed Facebook status update.

Of course, there’s been a lot on my mind. Thoughts, ideas, plans and fears roll around in my head like marbles: translucent, self-contained, difficult for me to grasp or articulate. A lot has happened, from celebrating Christmas to seeing my sister to the airport at 5:30 this morning. It can be difficult to process everything.

Here are a sampling of my immediate thoughts:

This foot of snow on the ground is very, very pretty, with the clear pastel sunset sky above it. It’s kind of exciting to have a day when the actual temperature is 5 degrees below zero. (That said, thank God for good central heating.)

It wasn’t weird to have my sister here in town, but it’s not weird to have her gone, either. I’ve gotten used to life without her immediate presence. This upsets me.

I hope Zach’s car will start tonight when he gets off work at 11pm.

I want to declutter my desk but I can’t seem to get motivated. Maybe if I played the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack it would help.

And a sampling of my thoughts over the past few weeks:

Holy cow, the PCT is less than four months away. How the heck are we going to afford it/get all the logistics done?

I have a lot of stuff to do but it’s hard to do it.

I need to learn to focus more.

My body does not like it when I eat a lot of white flour.

What is simplicity? How do you find a place where you can maintain simplicity in life, in outlook, in desire, in practice?

I’ve reached a comfortable plane of selflessness, where I do nice and kind things for other people but don’t truly sacrifice myself in the service of others. This year I’m asking God to draw me deeper into what it truly means to be a servant.

These thoughts are random. Some of them will become blog posts later. But in the meantime, I’m putting oil on the rusty gears of my writing and shifting into gear. Happy New Year and a Blessed Epiphany, everyone!

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