If there are any words to sum up what 2016 has been for me…..Those are the words. I have had a lot of transformational experiences in life, but nothing ever like 2016. It is very similar to another time, 24 years ago, when I walked out of one life and into another after re-committing my life to Christ. My life today is RADICALLY different from the life I had just 365 days ago…..How MUCH can CHANGE in JUST 365 days???
I live in a different town.
I no longer own a family home.
I no longer have 90% of the items that were in that family home.
I am a writer with a readership (❤️massive joy❤️).
I worship in a different church.
I belong to a different Christian denomination.
I am a licensed Associate Pastor (❤️more massive joy!).
I have a whole new church family (this is the coolest and best one- I have people who love me deeply- and whom I deeply love- and 365 days ago- I DID NOT EVEN KNOW THAT THESE PEOPLE EXISTED!!!- If that doesn’t blow your mind- nothing will!!).
I took my first ever vacation all by myself- and LOVED it.
I embraced solitude, stillness and self-care.
I no longer have living parents (😰massive sorrow😰).
I no longer think nursing homes are scary.
I actually feel called to minister in nursing homes.
I no longer think people with dementia are scary.
I now love Senior Citizens as much (if not more) than I love kids.
I have watched a person die (the most holy experience of my life).
I am no longer drowning in a financial nightmare of debt.
I am working towards being debt free.
I am no longer a caregiver to a mother with advanced dementia (VERY mixed feelings on that😰😰).
I have gone from a person who lived a life with many regrets to a person who can look back on the last eight years of my life with NO REGRET – because I am getting so much better at listening to Spirit and making better decisions that honor my path-(this is also one of the BEST changes❤️❤️).
I care so much less about what people think of me- and spend much more time focusing on what God thinks of me.
I am SO much more comfortable with saying “I.Just.Don’t.Know.”
I am embracing the me that was knit together in my birth mother’s womb–and seeing what I thought for many years were liabilities–are actually assets that make me the wonderful and complicated person that I am.
I am learning to LOVE that EVERYTHING in life is a lesson.

I truly cannot imagine a year of more change than what I have been through…..

I cannot imagine what God has in store for me in 2017….

But I will be ready.