A Cup of Tea

    With her cup of tea in hand, Amanda looked outside her kitchen window into their snowy backyard. She and her family had just moved to the country and were now proud owners of an acre of land. She and her husband were raised in the country but moved to the city after their wedding. After the birth of their second child, they wanted to move back to the country. It took three years to find the right property. Finally, on their wedding anniversary, a new property was listed. It was perfect. Three months later, on a bright sunny July morning, they had the keys to their new home and a moving van full of all that made up their life.

    Fast forward through a few months of unpacking and settling in, and now she was enjoying her morning cup of tea and daydreaming about all the fun they would have this coming winter. This morning was the first snowfall, which always felt so magical to her.

    She was very excited about all the prospects that their land offered. On the north end of the property, they had a hill that the previous owner had built for sledding in the winter. In the west end, they had a pond that would make a wonderful skating rink. The possibilities for winter fun were endless.

    She took a deep breath and another sip of tea and thought back to all the fun she had as a young girl on her parent's land. She spent hours skating on their pond, teaching herself to figure skate, and once she got tired of that, she would go sliding on their hill. She and her brother built igloos and had snowball fights with their parents. Some days, it would be kids against parents or girls against boys. Either way, it was a blast.

    Living in the big city in the south for the last five years, her children hadn't experienced much snow. Or any of the fun winter activities that she grew up with. It's hard to find a hill to slide down in a big city with flat terrain. She was eager to share her memories and make new ones with her family.

    She took another sip and smiled at the plans they had for that day. She and her husband were going to take their children shopping for skates and sleds. They had all their snow clothes and such, but they didn't have skates yet. Their children, Josh and Anna, five and three, were ready to learn. She was so excited to teach her children the same way she and her brother learned to skate. On the family pond.

    She heard her husband coming down the hall and into the kitchen. Binging her back from her daydream. It was time to start the day. He came up behind her, hugged her and kissed her cheek. She shared her excitement with him about their winter fun prospects.

    She took one last sip of her tea and started making the pancake batter for breakfast. Their children would be awake by the time the first pancakes were ready.

    She loved her morning cup of tea. It gave her the chance to daydream about all the exciting things in her life. She loved getting up early before her husband and children and enjoying the stillness of their home before they started their day. Today was no different.

I made a fun fictional writing prompt and let my imagination run with it.

I hope you are enjoying this not-so-snowy "winter" afternoon friend.

God Bless

~Hannah

Recognizing Satan's Attacks

     This morning I woke up feeling "quit" which is usually a sign that my depression is flaring up and it's going to be a rough day. I wasn't feeling bad yet though. Just quiet.

    My mood started to get visibly worse around 10 am and by 11:30 I was on the couch, scrolling on my phone falling into a funk. Last night I told hubby I wanted to go lane swimming at the pool on Saturday afternoon. While I was lying on the couch feeling depressed I realized I wasn't going to be able to go swimming. I fell asleep asleep shortly after. At 2:30 I woke up from my nap feeling like myself again. Lane swimming was now over, so I took Blessing for a walk. It occurred to me when I woke up that Satan had been attacking me and preventing me from going swimming which is an activity that I love and am trying to do regularly now.

    I decided then and there that I would try again tomorrow and not let Satan have his way. I feel a little silly for not seeing his tactics earlier, but I know for next time.

    The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10.

    After I had journaled this post, I thought of how it was not a "fun" or "nice" post. It's not a post about something exciting that happened this weekend or how God answered a prayer. It is a post about struggle and the human condition. I then asked myself what the Holy Spirit would say in response to it. He would remind me of the Psalms where David is crying out to God in anguish. Ps. 6:3 "My soul is in anguish." He would remind me that not every day is a good day, and that's okay. The Holy Spirit didn't directly speak to me in this encounter, I simply asked myself what He would say, and this is what I believe He would say.

    It's now been a week since this happened. This weekend was much better than last, and I got to enjoy several more of the activities that I love. Including a good workout in the pool through 40 minutes worth of lane swimming. Now, I have to find the right balance between how many activities I can enjoy during the week and on the weekends and how much time I can spend on each activity without exhausting myself and burning out. Stay tuned for the answer. 😊

Have a blessed sleep tonight, my friend and a wonderful new work week tomorrow morning.

God Bless

~Hannah

Took this picture when I first started doing photography. I look back now and see what I "should have" done for an even better shot and am grateful for how far I have come and all I have learned. I'm excited to continue developing my photography skills and blessing my family with this God given passion.

Also, pro tip, if you don't love the photo, put it in black and white and it "fixes" it. 😄

2023 - A Year of Recovery

    I left 2022 with all kinds of ideas of what 2023 would look like. And all those hopes and dreams crashed and burned mid-January when I received a bill from the government saying they wanted their money back from COVID.

    I had set aside money for figure skating lessons and was hoping to start them in February/March 2023. So I put that money toward that bill and let income tax finish the rest. The rest of the year was simply dealing with one curve ball after the next, as life often goes. I quickly forgot all about the goals I had, and that's okay.

    We accomplished other goals instead. We both went to therapy and got the help that we needed. God confirmed my gift of writing, and I have loved sharing my blog with you. We figured out what was causing Blessing's excitement peeing problem and now have the answer. I left my part-time job at a banquet hall and started doing dishes at a local restaurant instead. Looking back, we accomplished a whole lot more than I thought we had.

    When I was thinking about my goals for this year, I thought, "Why bother? I didn't accomplish them this year, what makes next year any different?" Which is true. I didn't accomplish what I wanted but, I did get other things done which were equally important.

    I still consider it a year of recovery from COVID-19 and hopefully,  this next year will be even better with new dreams and fewer curve balls.

    I have heard from a handful of friends that 2023 was not a great year. To those of you who had some struggles, whether 2, 20 or even 200. I'm sorry to hear that. I pray that 2024 brings less heartache and more blessings.

    I have been thinking about what my goals for this year will be. As embarrassing as it is to admit, I didn't spend a whole lot of time praying over them. Or at least not as much time as I had expected to. When I realized that the goals I had last year were probably still not attainable, which is fine. I asked the Holy Spirit to show me what my goals would be for this next year. He didn't speak directly to my heart like He often does, but I believe He reminded me of other goals and dreams that were birthed just this past year. Goals and dreams that on a surface level are probably more "relaxed" than last year, but still equally "impressive."

    I'm a little sad that the dreams I had last year may never come true. But I also need to remember that I'm not the woman I was last year or the girl I was years ago, and that's a good thing. I have changed, and so have my hopes and dreams. And who knows, maybe that one dream will come true one day, but for now it's okay that it hasn't.

    If you did accomplish all your goals this past year friend. Congratulations! Well done. I hope that this year is even more successful. If you are like me and didn't accomplish your goals or not the goals you had set out to accomplish. I'm sorry friend, I hope and pray that this year goes better for you.

Have a blessed afternoon friend.

God Bless

~Hannah

New year means new journal and new pen.