A Word for the Year

As the year nears the close, I've asked friends and family what word they would use to describe their year. What a great question! One retired this year: Relaxing. One changed perspective from what the Lord was withholding to what the Lord was giving: Shift. One celebrated a milestone in such a joyful way: Jubilee. And one friend chose the precise word (even in the precise tense) that I had chosen.

Growing.

This has been a year of growing for me. I can think about my thought-processes and ideas at the start of the year and I feel like I've grown in maturity. I grew in thankfulness, grew in understanding.

My involvement in teaching healthy eating and cooking grew. What a joy to teach young ladies how traditional cultures maintained health and vitality into old age.

The farm grew. After the crash-and-burn of the attempted market garden, we could say we grew in knowledge of what doesn't fit our family. We created a full farm plan that we like.

The boys, who we interact with hourly, grew. They get along now better than they ever had. They have passed benchmarks in their education, in their understanding of humor and permaculture and God, in their helpfulness around the farm. It's been a great year with them.

Our circle of friends grew. At one point, I went to a women's retreat for a few hours, and looked around the circle of ladies. I had spent over an hour one-on-one with seventeen of them. What a privilege!

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Phil's word was similar: Phoenix. Out of the ashes of the failed farming endeavor, something new is springing forth.

Happy Winter Solstice!