There was a time when Christmas letters would fill the
mailboxes, thus I decided that I would write my very own this year…
Dear Friends,
Time sure has a way to aid us in our struggles and bring with
it healing and new adventures. As a kid growing up in a chaotic home, I would
tell myself, “in one year this problem won’t be an issue anymore.” It was my way of finding hope and
encouragement to get through the hard days.
As an adult, this past year I relied on that coping mechanism to get
through some difficult times. At the
beginning of the year I lost my job and weeks later I had to let my old
dog pass on to Assisi Heaven. While losing
my job was difficult, it gave me the opportunity to try my hand at running a
small online store. I always had a dream
of owning a vintage store and thanks to my luck in scoring great finds at
thrift stores, I was able to make twenty-thousand from what I consider a
hobby. Thus, I made the best of a
situation that was out of my control.
Thanks to the money that I made I was able to take sometime off and
not worry about how I would pay my bills.
I was able to spend a couple weeks with my grandma in Mexico and it was one
of the best blessings of my year. After returning
from my trip, I began looking for work.
Though at first, I felt like my resume was hitting deaf ears soon I
began getting calls for interviews and eventually landed a job. I don’t remember applying at the school that
I was hired at- the whole hiring process felt surreal and I knew that God was
behind the entire process. The fact that
I landed a job at a continuation school that works with students who are failing
out of high school really has been the greatest gift. I get to work with small groups of students
at a time, sometimes one-on-one and my classes are tiny compared to the
traditional classroom size. This more
individualized approach to learning has made it successful for a person with
bipolar to have a career in teaching. I
really marvel all the time as to how God found the perfect place for me to
succeed in doing something that I love.
In early February I lost my fifteen-year-old companion who
made many appearances here on the blog.
I remember waking up crying the days that followed his passing and finding
no rest until I received his remains and was able to plant him in our garden. Dollar was such a great dog who shared so
much of my life and it was one of the hardest things to let him go. After a few months of mourning his loss, I
realized that I needed to rescue another dog.
I was in pain and this pain could be transferred into love for another
little dog who needed a home. After
stalking animal shelter pages, a friend posted that she needed to get rid of a
litter of puppies. The rest is Francis
history! Though, Francis in no way has
usurped Dollar’s place in my heart – loving him has been quite easy. Everyday, my affection for him grows and
though it’s been a challenge starting again with a puppy – I am optimistic about our future together.
Sometimes, at the end of the year people say things like: “this
has been the worst year of my life!” And
though my twenty-nineteen has been full ends – through my faith and reading the
lives of the saints – I am learning that no matter the hardships there’s always
so much to be thankful for. I am still
adjusting to all the change, but looking forward to starting a new year full of
expectation for things to come. Thanks for reading, have a Happy
New Year.
XOXO
No comments:
Post a Comment