Happy 2024 and welcome back to Holding All of It!
It’s been a month since my last post and what a month. December was far from a dreamy Advent season in our neck of the woods. Between a class that pushed my limits, seasonal work, a busy time with the kids, and illness in the family, the last five weeks felt like a bit of an uphill trek stretching my endurance.
The peak of the proverbial hike occurred on Christmas Eve when Silas (my just-returned-from-college son) came down with a killer migraine. The poor guy was laid out in excruciating pain all day on Christmas, and we ended up in the ER the next morning with his eye and forehead swelled like he’d been in the boxing ring overnight. In the end, it turned out he had two infections and was almost admitted. But, after a day in the ER with an IV antibiotic, a few prescriptions for home, and a check-in with the same team the following day, they felt he would heal sufficiently without a stay at the hospital. And though the symptoms took some time to improve, indeed he has, praise God.
Amid all this, I had a bit of a mini-crisis. Silas is my kid who had a chronic and life-threatening illness throughout his childhood; I have a bit of a knee-jerk PTSD response when he gets sick. Part of me puts on a mental steeliness developed over those years, and part of me taps into all the emotional junk (a.k.a. fear) associated with that period of our lives. Talking to the Lord about it a few days in, the phrase “This too shall pass” came to mind. Perhaps it’s been overused through the years, but there is so much wisdom in those four little words, and God used the sentiment to help me reflect not just on the moment, but as a springboard to assess the past year, and to consider the one ahead of me, too.
As I was being comforted by ‘This too shall pass” regarding Silas, I thought about a video clip I saw somewhere in social media land this past year. The scene was a round table of famous male actors discussing their profession and Tom Hanks was in the mix. He mentioned this phrase and said he wished someone had shared with him earlier that it doesn’t just apply to the lows of life, it also applies to the pinnacle moments as well.
It’s so true, isn’t it? The budding romance, the swaddled newborn, professional accomplishments, signing on the dream house, whatever…the swelling joys along with the debilitating blows, whether moments or seasons, they all pass. Good and bad drift in and out of our lives like the ocean tides. And it all passes through as the days of our lives continually fall away. It’s a bit sobering and makes me think of Solomon and Ecclesiastes...vanity of vanities, all is vanity. In the end, our lives are a vapor of highs and lows, all of it appearing for a little time and then vanishing (James 4:14).
Thinking about the fleeting nature of life though, God reminded me that though our lives our truly mists in the grand scheme of eternity, how we live those moments does matter. The how is more the substance of our lives than the what. The way we treat others amid our daily dealings, the way we accept the trials and gifts God gives us, and the way we respond to the promptings of the Lord in the individual moments are important. These choices reflect wisdom or foolishness. These choices count in eternity. A verse keeps coming up with these thoughts, and it seems apt: “The wise woman builds her house, but the foolish tears it down with her own hands” (Proverbs 14:1).
As I think over the past year, I must admit I see some foolishness. I don’t always build all aspects of “my house”, and some areas are in more disrepair than others. I desperately do not want to be a woman who pulls down the substance of her life with her own hands, and as I’ve thought through it, I know this is the verse I need to keep in focus as I walk into 2024. Providentially, I’d say, my Bible reading this morning happened to be Luke 6, and in light of what God has been speaking to me the past week, this passage struck me anew: “Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you who he is like: he is like a man building his house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against the house and could not shake it, because it had been well built (Luke 6:47-49).
How do I build my house well? How do I live the highs and lows in a way that matters? How do I live as a woman of wisdom? Hear the words of the Lord and act on them.
A final thought, lest this new year’s kickoff post comes across (God forbid) in any way legalistic. God’s words and ways, the actions He wishes me to follow are those filled with love and grace, kindness and forbearance. His promptings are sweet and good, and following His wisdom not only blesses others but draws me into His love and presence and blesses me, too. Plus, there is abounding grace for each moment I fall short, which, let’s face it, I can already guarantee will happen.
December may not have been ideal, but as the adage goes, it too has passed. I will ride the highs and lows of 2024, as will you dear readers, and I’m praying that we can do so as wise ones, building our lives in the wisdom of God’s words and more than anything, enjoying the presence of Him and others along the way.
Here’s to another new year (vaporous though it may be)! I look forward to journeying together.