Say it aint so…about 23 days left in 2019. Really??? December is upon us. It’s a great month to reflect on the year and to think about goals for the upcoming year. Although these last 3 months have been the most difficult for me, I’m fairly optimistic about 2020. I know I am because I went to the Dollar Tree and bought my daughter, Elise, and I a couple of poster boards for our 2020 vision boards. It was Elise’s idea. We’ll embark on this activity during the Christmas break. I’m looking forward to the time off and spending it with my family.

Why is it that the time flies by the fastest from September to December? To be honest, the first 5 months of the year were a blur. I can best summarize it as: work was gruesomely rewarding, my son graduated high school, my daughter completed 8th grade, my son and I traveled to the Dominican Republic for a life changing trip, and some family members came to visit us in Austin in between. It was a roller coaster ride, for sure. I was doing alright with 2019 until my husband started getting sick again.

What I’ve learned in these last few months, the hardest months of my 2019, is that God’s hand is on me and my family. He’s been trying to tell me something for a while. I’m listening. He’s got my attention. God has me where He wants me. I know this because my intellect, education, and experience can’t get me out of this. I have no where else to turn except to God.

I no longer believe in happenstance, coincidence, or the like. I’ve known since my twenties my God given purpose is to help people. However, I’m coming to terms that God has a plan for my destiny. I don’t know what it is yet, and that’s hard to live with.

I’ve been spending time daily reading and listening to teachings about Detours. My faith is being tested. I feel like this is the final exam. I’m recalling a time in college, where I was waiting on the results of a final exam. It was a difficult exam. Sometimes, you just know when you do well on a test or not, but in this case, it could have gone either way. This is where I am now.

The more I delve into the spiritual side of me, the more closed off I want to be. This means I want to spend less time on social media. I want to spend less time trying to impress people on purpose. I want to spend less time writing on my blog. I just want to get to understand God better. Can anyone relate?

With all of my life’s experiences thus far, I will say that God has molded me to be a STRONG and COURAGEOUS person. I can’t imagine what else He is preparing me for. Only God knows. I’m learning how to wait patiently and to wait well.

My words should have painted the picture that I’ve been struggling. The struggle is the underlying tug in my words. However, I know there are better days ahead. In fact, TODAY is a GOOD day and it really was(time for bed). It’s called FAITH. This blog site is about self-care and I would be remiss to not acknowledge the most important tool in my self-care box is FAITH. Faith in God and then faith that he’s equipping me to withstand anything. Admittedly, it’s a little scary to think about what other challenges I may face in this life, but whatever it is, I will withstand it.

In 2020, I’m looking forward to a fresh new year to start over. I want to make more meaningful connections with people, especially the people I love and those who love me. Life is too short to worry about people who don’t matter when the people who do matter are right under your nose. They deserve most of our attention and love. I also see more travel on the horizon.

I’ve been saving old magazines so Elise and I can work on our vision boards. I’ll be thinking about some other goals for 2020. I hope I find the pictures to capture it. Do you know that visualization in your mind increases the likeliness of achieving goals. I visualize in my mind often. However, the last time we did a vision board was in 2016. It’s been long overdo.

How about you? What lessons surfaced for you in 2019? What are you looking forward to in 2020?