2023- Happy New Year!

 As I write this, it is the final few hours of 2022.

It was an eventful year, that's for sure. A lot of things happened that I didn't see coming, but God has been so good. He has walked close beside us every minute of every day. We have been brought to our knees, and we have rejoiced in His goodness. Isn't that the way of life though? 

Sunrise in a new place.

Today we are saying good-bye to dear Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. What a gift he has been to the Church. He was truly a giant in the way that he approached the Truth. There is so much that he gave us, and I haven't even tapped into it yet. I am still trying to work through the prolific mind of Pope John Paul II!

In 2023 we have some big changes coming, that we know of, and probably some that we don't!

I will finish up at the School of Spiritual Direction at Franciscan. I hope to be mostly finished with the requirements by April, and then I just have to finish paying for the program. I am thinking of getting some part time work to have extra for that, and travel to and from Texas, and some other expenses.

We will also welcome Madi into our family! Paul and Madi will be married the 17th of June! 

~Rachel Clesi Photography

If all goes well, at some point after I finish school, we hope to be able to relocate to Texas! I am praying that sometime in August or September we can look for a house. If that works out we will be living down there next New Year's, and Dad can have his birthday in a new home. I would love that. 

We went to Mass tonight and it was so beautiful. Tonight we celebrated the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. Fr Francis spoke about how Mary is there for us as a loving mother, and how we can always go to her for help. He also talked about how important it is to keep reaching out to others to share the love of God. I sometimes get lost in the details of all that we have going on and I forget how important that simple task is. Just looking at the person in front of you and seeing them for who they are, beloved and wanted children of God, needs to be that ONE thing that gets done every single day. If we are praying in the morning and the evening, we are given the entire day to do the work of God, which is simply to love. No matter how much I accomplish in the course of a day, if the people that come into it haven't encountered love in me, then I have not lived that day well. I want to do better. I have to do better. 

Tomorrow is Dad's 82nd birthday! I wish he was able to be at Laura's. He loves having Christmas and New Years with the Cookes. Well, whatever the year brings, I hope that happens for him next year. 

I think I will go watch Lilly ride tomorrow. We are having a little bit of a thaw and I am hoping that it dries out enough for Lilly and Ghost to get out for a ride. I took these pictures the other day.  They have moved to another place and it is really beautiful up there! 

Merry Christmas!!

 We had a nice Christmas in our new place.

Laura sent me a new Cake pan and I managed to make a red velvet Christmas cake. 

We had a few presents and a quiet day.

The Church looks amazing!! 

Goodbye-Hello

 

Well, on Friday, December 16th, we met with all the necessary people and we closed on our home sale.

I was somewhat emotional, naturally, but as we went through the process and I saw how happy the couple is that bought it. They should be really happy with the place! We are really going to miss the neighbors though! That has been such a great place to live for so long. 

Then the 17th and 18th were move days and boy did we move! Tim got the truck and we didn't stop for two days! It was really something. We had so many friends helping! That was just so amazing. 

It's so weird not to go home to that house, but still, I know this is God's plan! He has been with us every step of the way. 

There were so many things that proved His plan for this time in our lives. We are on a journey for sure. 

The new place is very small and very different but it is growing on me for the time being. I am looking forward to a big kitchen again though!

We have been in it for almost two weeks and we are making the necessary adjustments. It is nice to have a disposal and a master bathroom. It is nice to have the Christmas tree up! 

I don't know how long we will be here, but I think it will do just fine for however long God sees fit. As the previous tenant said. "It keeps you humble!" 

Third Sunday Already??

 

This Advent is really a time of preparation. Preparing for a very different way of life for a while. 

I will put the tree up in the new place and we will have a joyous Christmas! Our kitchen is going to be Crachit-sized and it will be interesting to cook a Christmas dinner there, but we'll pull it off! And it will be different but how can we not be Joyful in celebrating Our Lord? 

We have to watch the usual round of Christmas Carol versions. That will definitely be a good way to prepare once we get moved in. 

Moving On...

 

Well, the business is getting done and we are proceeding through the process of selling the house. It is so weird, but the more we think about it, the more it seems like the plan is coming together the way that God wants it.

I am packing and giving things away that don't matter, and keeping the things that do. So many things happened in this house! Lives were begun and childhoods were lived. So many things were learned and conversations took place under this roof. The years filled up the storage spaces and the basement with things that were needed and valued. Now many of those things have become unneeded are being given to people who can use them. The rooms that the kids lived in still have marks on the walls and the carpet got a lot of use! 

It is kind of surreal. I am really glad that I have this blog of the life that we lived here. The schooling and the holidays and the meals and celebrations. 

But there is a time for everything and there is a time to say goodbye to a house that needs a family growing in it. We have lived well here and I hope that the new family will live well here as well. I hope that this house sees many more Christmases, and egg hunts and sledding down the hill. A dog or two and a lot of fires in the fire pit. I hope that we are handing on a space that will bless people as it has us.

I pray that we are ready when God shows us the next step. I know that this is a journey. All of life is a journey and ours is going to proceed in another place. I pray that we live it well. That we find a place to call home that will serve our needs for the time that we need it to. There is so much to pray about and the Lord has been so good!! He has walked with us every step of this journey and I am looking forward to the new life that He is preparing for us.