Hello 2023! I’m so glad to see you.

Hello 2023! I’m so glad to see you.

2022 was too much. We saw war, gun violence, high prices for food and gas, sickness from COVID and flu variants, and many other horrible things. Many of us found it hard to cope.

I loss my mother in 2022. To watch her health decline and eventual death was the hardest thing I’ve experienced in my life. Some of my friends and family also faced the death of significant loved ones. One friend's mother and father died months apart.

Sometimes, the pain resulting from the death of a loved one can cause us to do and say hurtful things. I understand we all experience grief differently and we should extend grace, but it has been hard.

In my professional life, leaders and churches who no longer identify as United Methodist left the UMC to join a new denomination. It’s sad to see. Although I am not directly involved, the emotions surrounding the process trickle down, affecting me and other employees. This too is a form of grief.

Simply put, 2022 wore me out and I’m tired!

So welcome 2023! I pray for the healing of the wounds and hurts caused by 2022. In my healing I ask, what gifts or lessons of grief will I receive and share in 2023?

For example, maybe I will take more time to be in conversation with my nieces and nephews about life instead of judging their actions. Maybe I will tell people around me I love them more often instead of just saying, “bye”. Maybe I will remember the unfulfilled dreams left behind those who passed on and work fearlessly to make my dreams a reality.

In 2023 I will seek the good that can be birthed out of grief. I will search for ways to use my pain to be a better friend, sister, sister-in -law, creator, writer, stepmother, aunt, grandmother, employee and an overall better person living the life God has called me to live.