The highlight of this month had to be the anticipation of spending my first Christmas married. It feels so special to be our own new family, and I keep kicking myself that I get to be the one to do life with Kyle.
Something spontaneous we did this month was a trip to Erie, PA. It was not something I would have ever dared to plan only a few days before, and I almost shot the idea down entirely when Kyle said he wanted to do a little trip the week before Christmas weekend. We settled on Erie because it was something different but not too far of a drive, especially considering the impending winter storm that was forecasted for the last night of our visit there.
We spent the trip going to the Presque Isle environmental center, seeing one walk-through and one drive-through Christmas lights display, going to a free play arcade, and eating dinner in an igloo (!) on the bay.
We ended up cutting it a day short to hunker down for the winter storm, which did in fact bring wind chills below 0 and almost a foot of snow between Friday and Sunday morning. On Christmas day we awoke early to get ready for church, then as we were about to head out the door it got canceled due to bad roads. We changed back into our pajamas and enjoyed having time to exchange our gifts with each other and let our dogs eat their raw hide bones.
Amidst the excitement of the holiday season, there were times I was feeling stressed about my career. I substitute taught up until Christmas break, giving me a few weeks off at the end of the year. I used the time off to focus more on what I should be doing in the new year for work. I knew I wanted a break from teaching, but couldn’t seem to shake the guilt of that urge. I had applied for a few things, but nothing seemed to be lining up and it was scary to try something outside of education after that being pretty much my only job-related experience.
With a little encouragement from Kyle, I finally went for an entry-level job at Progressive, and got an offer the day after my second interview! (Technically, I got an email, which led to setting up a call for the next day, but you get the idea.) So, by the end of the year, I had the promise of starting my new position in January. And I didn’t realize how much I would appreciate the sense of relief I got from this until it was granted to me.
Through all of these things I keep learning more and more about just how much God loves me. No matter how many circumstances change in my life, God loves me. Christmas may be long over at the time of this publication, but that’s really the whole story. John 3:16 says that God loved the world so much that he sent his only Son into the world, so that whoever believes in him would not die, but have eternal life.
December 2022 brought a variety of circumstances: enjoying the peace of my home with my husband and two dogs, spending quality time with friends and family, coming to terms with the fact that I dreaded my days substitute teaching, being stretched to take a chance on a new job. Writing about these experiences gives me perspective on how the good in my life is very good, and any uncertainty also has worked out for good.
Written by Hannah 