Happy Sunday Happy New Year

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Good morning! Happy Sunday and Happy New Year! I can’t believe we’re in the year 2023! Does it seem as startling to you this morning as it does to me? Perhaps it’s just that I haven’t had enough coffee yet! 🙂 But time truly flies when you sit quietly and reflect as I’ve been doing this morning. Reflecting and being present and also taking care to think about the future. Because isn’t that what we do on New Year’s Day?!

It’s a fresh start beginning with January 1st. While I’m not one for declaring my resolutions for the coming year, I know many people who do. Instead, I’d rather take stock of what I have, count my blessings with gratitude, and plan for the future with lots of hope mixed in.

Faith. Hope. and Love.

I’ve been through a lot over the years while I’ve been writing to you. I’ve battled breast cancer (yesterday marked 21 years since my diagnosis). I’ve lost both of my parents. I’ve cleaned out and sold 4 houses for family due to deaths. The marriage and relationship with his family ceased to exist. I’ve endured open heart surgery and Covid. Those are just the biggies. I’m sure there’s more, I just can’t think of them right now…But what I’m getting at is this: what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger…and I’ve learned how strong I innately am!

As I held my sons last night after we watched the ball drop together in Times Square, I began to get teary. The three of us stood together in a unified hug, as it should be. We are family. We have endured so much together. It hasn’t been easy, but it has been so worth it.

I got teary because I am so grateful. I know how precious life is. I understand that life can change in a moment’s notice. When I look back over the last ten years, so much in my life has changed. So much in my sons’ lives have changed and while we don’t know where this new year will take us, what I do know in my heart is this: we will do it together and there’s no place I’d rather be right now than with them.

So as I sit here with a kitty on my lap, the boys and pup asleep upstairs in the early hours of the first day of the new year, I send you love, gratitude and a gentle reminder to always remember to enjoy – the presents of presence – in your life!

Shine On!

xo