This week went by really fast it seemed. It was Friday before I even got turned around. I am maintaining weight right now. I feel like the entire Holiday lineup is just a time to survive when it comes to weight. I will get right back to losing after Christmas. But one thing I have learned is that there will only be a certain amount of Christmases in our lifetimes and the food, candies, baked goods, and comfort foods are just a part of the experience. We can’t give it all up. So, I am taking it all in but in moderation . . . kinda. I am still in a good place mentally and ready to push myself past many limits in the New Year! One huge motivator just happened today when my sister sent me a screenshot of ticket prices for our trip to Ireland. It is getting real and I am super excited to go. I still need to go get my passport! January will start off with a healthier me compared to last January, a better meal prep plan, a big plane ticket purchase, and a first passport application. There are a lot of other things that I am absolutely looking forward to but these top the list! I will share others with you when they materialize! I am also getting over some kind of sickness that hit me this week. But I’m on the downhill side of it now.
I was getting our Christmas letter polished up and ready to stuff into envelopes this week. I haven’t written one in 3 years. Our printer is not printing in color at all right now even though I just changed the cartridge yesterday. I was getting super frustrated with it to start and then got even more frustrated. I have all the patience in the world with people. Things? Not so much. Tech related things? Forget about it! As I felt my frustration worsening I looked down at the return on my desk where the printer lives. There sitting right next to the printer, just waiting to give me a message, was a lovely gift from my sweet friend, Carolyn. That message? Today, I choose JOY. The flowery, colorful coaster reminded me that I have a say in how I react and respond to things. This message was driven home in a couple different ways this week.
A couple months ago I started to get to know a gal from our church. We had spoken several times prior but really had a couple good, although brief, conversations over a few different services. I told my mom then that this person was so sweet and I could see a friendship developing with her. She made it easy. As I sat with that over the next couple weeks, I selfishly thought to myself that I am not sure I wanted another relationship to nurture. That sounds really awful. And I don’t mean that a friendship didn’t sound good or that I don’t enjoy this person and talking with them or that she wasn’t worthy of getting to know and forging a good friendship. None of that is what I mean. I just know how much energy and effort being a good friend to someone takes. I have a demanding job that keeps me busy 50-55 hours a week. I have several other things that I am managing right now and kinda started to act a little selfish when I thought about the situation. I prayed about this one night. “Lord, I don’t know what you are doing. What if this friendship doesn’t work? And right now, I am not sure I need another friend.” I got an answer back immediately. “Lacy, maybe she does.” We are never too busy or too preoccupied to make new friends. And we can never have too many good friends. That isn’t possible. And it is never out of the question to BE a great friend to someone when Jesus puts those wheels in motion.
A couple weeks later the real fun happened with this whole new friendship. Her family was looking to buy a home. They had found one here in Brush that would have been a few minutes drive from me but that sale didn’t come to fruition. A few weeks after that, she pulled me aside at church to tell me that they had gone under contract on another house. A house on Eaton Street. I said, “I live on Eaton Street!” And then she said it was in the 1200-1300 block of Eaton Street. I said, “I live in the 1200-1300 block of Eaton!” It unfolded in something that resembled a scene from the movie “Mr. Deeds” in which Winona Ryder’s character came into a large, public shareholders meeting to reveal that the butler, Emilio, was really the rich media mogul’s only child. She read the mothers name and Emilio said, “That is my mother.” Then she read his date of birth and he said, “That is my birthday.” A couple more coincidences and he suddenly realized he was the rightful heir to the massive fortune. And in similar fashion, that is how it felt when I heard that my new friend would also be moving in just down the street from me. I have inherited a truly wonderful person and possible walking partner. The massive fortune I received was that she would be just 4 doors down from me and was moved in as of this last Friday night!
I thought about this new friendship when I was doing my Christmas letter. I opened my Christmas list to get the addresses of loved ones to send the letters to and was saddened by how many names I had to remove from the list this year . . . admittedly more than it would have been if I had sent them the last few years. But I took 8 names off the list because they are no longer on this earth. A couple of pretty impactful ones for me were Uncle Harold who went to Heaven this year and another was a man named Randy Cameron who my mom had been engaged to before she died. He had always stayed in touch and we had seen each other several times over the last 15 or so years. There were some deep losses on that little piece of paper and it just brought home the fact that the Holiday season is hard. It is hard for a lot of reasons and in a lot of ways for a lot of people. Especially for those who are missing loved ones. The pain of missing them during the Holidays never fully goes away but we just need to be reminded that we can still experience all the joy and love that they would want us to experience! It is a reminder that life is so precious and so fleeting. It seems like I just looked up and here is 50 staring me in the face. It is getting mighty close and I don’t know how time has gone so fast! What I do know is that we must enjoy every day to the fullest and do something productive with ourselves. There is a David McCullough quote that I had above my desk for a long time years ago that says, “Count the day lost at which the setting sun sees at its close no worthy action done.” I read that when Ben was a baby and it left a lasting impression on me. And most days, I can find something productive to do AND I get to choose to do it with JOY!
I know that this isn’t my normal type of blog. But I felt led to share a message of joy and hope during this Christmas week. Sometimes, we just need to be reminded that while life isn’t easy most of the time, it is so worth the living. If we operate from a place where we are afraid of what may happen we will miss the very point of being alive. Life is messy and busy and sometimes it hurts. We need to be reminded that while losing loved ones is so difficult and something we never truly “get over” we can still choose to “get through it” with Jesus and joy. And from time to time we need to be reminded God does know what is best and always plays things out for our best and His glory. I don’t know what will come with the new friendship that He has opened. Just like I don’t know what tomorrow, or next week, or next year holds. But I can choose to accept it all with grace and employ the JOY that is within me because of Who Jesus is to me. We can have a calm assurance that we are stronger because of Christ in us than the things in this life that try to take us out! We can’t stop living because someone else has. We can’t stop thriving because things are difficult. We can’t stop pushing forward when unexpected things cause us to adjust what we thought the outcomes would be. Most importantly, the need to love others . . . I mean ALLLLLLL the others . . . should always come before the things we may view as inconveniences that can happen because of that love for others.
My Christmas list may have gotten shorter but my friend list has grown! I am glad that I listened to Jesus on this one and opened up my heart to receive love and friendship where I didn’t think I may need or want it. I am ready to see where it goes! I am grateful for the wonderful gift from my sweet friend that will always remind me that my JOY is non-negotiable. I have JOY because I have Jesus in my heart. Even when I am hurting or unhappy or scared I can still experience this joy. And this week, with the true meaning of Christmas being the Savior that was sent to us, I am choosing to walk fully in that joy and the love and peace that I have full access to. Today, I choose to be thankful for new friends. (Welcome to the neighborhood, Meg). Today, and every day, I choose joy. I pray for peace in your hearts this season and pray that you, too, will find the joy that is yours in Jesus.
Losing Lacy 