Well, we did it.  We survived another year.  THAT is worth celebrating, no matter how the year evolved.  For some, 2017 was downright *hitty.  For others, it was full of joy.  What was 2017 for you?

I can hardly remember yesterday, much less January.  So, as I scroll through the photos on my phone, I am reminded of the sweet blessings that filled my year.  I giggle, I smile, I remember.  Then, it dawns on me that these are the happy moments, day to day shenanigans and beautiful occasions.  Thank you, Iphone, for recording my joy.

Then, I challenge myself to remember the unrecorded times that I wished that same Iphone would dial up to heaven. Those days I longed to talk to my grandparents, who raised me, and I was extra-missing.  Those days in which I was all “really?  WTF?” about life or a specific daytastrophe.  Questions I needed answering about why things were happening  (otherwise known as a moment of doubt).  Ironically, those are the days when we dial in and keep dialing in when we get a busy signal.  You younger folks may not even know what a “busy signal” is, but I digress.  So, I call, I get a busy signal (what on EARTH could He be doing up there that He is too busy to take my call?!), then I finally give up.  Who has time to keep calling and calling and calling?

That is the thing.  We quit.  We quit on Jesus when He doesn’t answer.  Or when we THINK He isn’t answering.  However, the beauty of Jesus is that he doesn’t even own a phone.  He is on-call always.  Like two tin cans on a string, all we need to do is speak.  Whether with a voice, or a prayer, we just need to speak.  He hears us.

So, as I reflect upon 2017, I see the cross. I see it everywhere, because it IS everywhere.  I try to capture it in photos and include it in this blog;  but, more importantly, I need to feel it.  He has laid a path before us, all we need to do is walk (t)His way.  The path is dirty, and sometimes hard to follow, but it is there.  Just look down to see up.

So long, 2017.  We’re coming atcha ’18!