A New Year

Today, in honor of the new year, I'm writing on resolutions, my classwork, books, and anything else that comes up.

New Year Resolutions

My friend Tracy posted these New Year's reflections at her blog, Traveling Clues. She writes, "Our lives take on the most value, purpose and meaning when we practice the discipline of reflection. To examine the choices we make and why, to evaluate the values by which we want to live, to consider the relationships in our lives, and such."

Anna's Christmas sweater

I wrote down answers to her questions this morning and looked through some sparse notes that I had taken at conferences and from my reading throughout the year.

I wrote down over a year ago, during a rare few hours of quiet and reflection at Pokagon State Park with a friend, "May I be faithful in the small things and not afraid to do the big things."

That's still where I'm at. What's small and what's big is not always clear, but I do want to be faithful and not afraid.

My knitting niece

It's been two and a half years that we've been back in the US, and I find that I'm resisting the striving that is in the air we breathe here. I feel like I am surrounded by messages to want and be and do something more. Much of it is good--health and relationships and caring for the world.

Notice Justin's ugly Christmas sweater.

But it can lead to a dissatisfaction that is permanent and strips me of the peace and joy of now. Joy that is independent of my weight or the state of my house. Peace that faces messy relationships and mistakes with grace.

And my brother's classy Christmas sweater

Grad School

I'm about to enter my second semester of my master's program in creative non-fiction at Ashland University. My writing for my coursework is focused on our time in France. I have four chapters done and will end with a book-length project that will hopefully become a real book when it grows up.

I've loved the required reading. My two favorites so far are The Empathy Exams and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.

I totally beat these guys at the game in between preparing roasted sprouts, my new favorite food.

Publications

My first published essay, Life in the Infertility Belt, was published at Eclectica this summer. InterVarsity's The Well published three articles this year--Gifts to Empty Places, Ebola, and Louie Zamperini and Loving the Other. I have a few essays out that I've waiting to hear back about, and one almost ready to send out. This new one, which has been percolating for a year, is about issues of race and safety that I've struggled with since preparing to move back here.

My brother performing feats of strength with my nephew.

Four Books

I still haven't finished two of my favorite books this year--Christena Cleveland's Disunity in Christ and Lewis Hyde's, The Gift: Creativity and Artist in the Modern World. Cleveland makes startling statements like, "People can meet God within their cultural context but in order to follow God, they must cross into other cultures because that's what Jesus did in the incarnation and on the cross." Then she backs it up. 

Pepper at the family Christmas party. It's not her favorite.

It was at the Word and Words Conference in Louisville this October that I heard of The Gift. I know exactly where I am in The Gift, page 121, because pages 1-120 are underlined in red and black pen.

Pepper opening her Christmas present--a rawhide bone from the pantry.

Here's a random underlined quote, "When either the donor or the recipient begins to treat a gift in terms of obligation, it ceases to be a gift, and though many in such a situation will be hurt by the revealed lack of affection, the emotional bond, along with it's power, evaporates immediately." It is crazy how much this book has influenced my thinking on writing and life these last few months.

Christmas kitties.

I first heard of An Idea Whose Time has Come about the passing the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Though politics is not my strong suit, it was helpful for me to understand the myriad factors involved in getting significant, life-changing legislation passed.

I'm looking forward to seeing Selma in a few weeks. One criticism of the movie is its depiction of Johnson as against the Civil Rights Act. The book depicts Johnson's role honestly and fully. Very worth a read.

All dressed up for Christmas Eve.

Last favorite book of the year was Unbroken. I saw the movie last week. My take is that the movie is fine, but the book is excellent.

I think people walk away from the movie with a great appreciation of Louie Zamperini's endurance and story. The same is true of the book, but the book pushes further into the story of Zamperini's struggles post-war and the prison guard's escape from any kind of punishment.  I had to deal with my own feelings of injustice in the face of a man who committed terrible acts, was unrepentant, and then forgiven.

Ok, this is a wonderful thing. We have missed cheese fondu here. I usually made it once or twice a year in France. I priced the cheese I would need last year, and it would have cost a small fortune to have enough for the four of us to have our full fill of melty Emmental, Gruyère, and Comté cheese. But, at Costco, I came across this carton of the magical three cheeses, bought it, and melted it in its container in the microwave.  It was so good. It wasn't cheap at $8, but it wasn't $40 either . Now I just need them to stock frozen French pastries for me to pop in the oven, and all will be well.

Happy New Year to one and all!