Looking Back, Looking Forward

I wish I could tell you what criteria I used for this collage post. I can't quite articulate it. This has been a year of enormous interior change for me. Some of it --a very little bit of it-- I shared here. Most of it is held in my heart, where I ponder, but will probably never adequately speak aloud. And perhaps that is for the best. Because some things are better left within the heart of a woman, taking root, growing, flowering into what God wants her to be. I pray for the peace that comes with the blossoming.

So here are some pieces of my heart from the past year.

1. Knitting Lessons (This is not really about learning to knit at all. And the woman who needed that fax immediately? The one for whom I turned the day upside down? The one who promised the moon and the stars? I never heard from her again. These were lessons, no doubt. Very important lessons.)

2. The First Day Never Goes as Planned (neither does the second day:-)

3. What I'm Never Going to Tell You (This one was read far and wide and I'm still so very grateful for your warm response. We need each other and the outpouring of community in response to this post makes me very hopeful, indeed.)

4. Healing (Whether big or small, when women love, they risk unimagineable hurt. I experienced that with my girls last fall. We survived. And even more, we didn't stop loving.)

5. Homecoming (Happy, happy sigh.)

6.  So Much More then a Basketball Game (I relive this game again and again when I want to remind myself that God has a plan and it's better than anything I can imagine.)

7.  Uncluttering and Midlife (These days in my basement were a pretty big deal. My soul is definitely still uncluttered. The basement is a mess again. Not sure exactly what that means.)

8.  Clearly, Through a Lens (As I re-read this one, I resolved to use my camera to its greater potential in the new year.)

9.  Gentleness in the Real World (We really need to challenge each other to love more.)

10.  Candlelight at the Table (Dinner time anchors our family.)

11.  Once Upon a Time (an Engagement Story) (This one is just too sweet to leave out.)

12.  Patchwork Twirly Skirts and Thoughts on Other Stuff (I haven't written too much on what finding needle arts has meant to me interiorly, partly because I always think those thoughts while sewing or embroidering or knitting and then it just sort of never makes it to the page. But it's sort of here.)

13.  It Takes Courage to Encourage (Yep. It does.  I was rocked by the incident in this post, forever changed for friendship. But I see the good. I do.)

14. Competing and Comparing (This one and the one below--I pray I can be a good and faithful friend.)

15. Competing and Comparing Revisited 

16. Joy, Peace, & Contentment  (I think PEACE will be my word for 2012. More on that later.)

17. Maintain Key Friendships (Again, with the friend theme)

18. Not Really Kindergarten  (These days are fleeting. I love, love, love the golden, happy days of early childhood)