I’m sitting with a cup of sweet coffee, glancing out at sparrows and junco’s nibbling around the base of the feeder outside. Their dark neutral colours contrast the blanket of crusty snow, and it looks like we will have a white Christmas after all! My Mom & Dad have a collection of potted plants and blooming flowers in the window sill next to me, a funny foreground to the cool winter day beyond the glass.
This is the pensive place you will often find me around the turn of a calendar or birth year. Moving forward also makes me glance back, remembering where I’ve been, re-rooting myself in the truths I’m sure of, so I can step farther and deeper into what God has for the now.
I pray as you scroll through some of my memories, that you are reminded of yours. Pick the blooming flowers of your heart’s garden before the first frost of forgetfulness and the passage of time kills them off and the memory is forever dead in the ground. And I know 2021 has perhaps also smelled of manure; but, may everything that has gone on be fertilizer to the growth of your life and my life. May we breathe in the fragrance of the goodness of God in the days of 2021.
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One of the biggest personal “wins” in 2021 was publicly releasing original songs to the world. I released my first single, “Setting Sail” on March 19, which was followed by a 5-song EP on May 1 by the same name.
I am so blessed that people listened… and continue to listen! Also grateful for the host of friends that partnered with me to make this project happen. I realize now that these creative endeavours are not nearly as fun or plausible alone. I prayed over this project and these songs and it was a long process, but finally getting it out there is an absolute dream come true!
And yes, I want to release more.
I consider it a huge privilege and responsibility to be given an opportunity to publicly present and speak God’s word! I’m grateful for these opportunities to speak this past year!
A huge highlight from 2021 was getting to visit my brother Kevin in California! We got up to some incredible adventures, including a visit to the Grand Canyon and Arches National Park! We touched the ocean of course, and slept in 6 degree weather – so cold! I love travelling and capturing new places!
Books
So I had a goal to read the equivalent of 1 book per month of 2021, and I’m celebrating that I nearly doubled that goal! Although it is not always natural and easy for me to sit down and read, I know there is so much to learn from the pages people pen, and I’m eager to glean from them!
Here’s some of my highlights 🙂
This year I wanted to wrap my brain around some more in-depth financial ideas and oh my word, this book was exactly what I didn’t know I was looking for (thank you God!)! When I have kids one day, I want to have them read this out of high school. It’s simplifies ideas that I was once afraid of, and although I did not necessarily become a financial expert through this book, I now feel I have a footing to begin walking my journey to financial freedom!
(It also happens to be written by my cousin-in-law, who is a pretty cool dude!)
“Doors & Oceans” by C. Brady. My friend Christine released this poetry book and man… I didn’t think I really “got” or enjoyed poetry, but this book was so well done, so nicely laid out, I couldn’t stop turning the pages! If you want a mellow space to get lost in her words, I highly recommend!
My pastor recommended “A Tale of Three Kings” by Gene Edwards and it was both pleasurable and gutting to read! Honestly, one of the best books on leadership I’ve ever encountered!
Okay, I am well aware this is a kids book, but I DON’T CARE. 😆 My sister-in-law mentioned reading this series to her kids and how she appreciated the themes of loyalty and bravery throughout. I had Audible so I listened to the first book while running, and perhaps it was a combo of the action and the audible reader (who was VERY good) but I was hooked! I burned through the series and don’t regret a minute of it!
LETTING GO
For some time after returning home from my Australian adventures, I hoped to find some epic occupation in some wondrous country other than Canada, and goodness gracious, away from Cornwall (sorry Cornwall, I know better now)! I wanted out. But it wasn’t just my winey pouty lips that were speaking, there’s also always been a sense in my heart that Cornwall is not my forever home. And if that’s true, “why stay?” was my logic.
But as the people around me loved me, encouraged me, listened to me, and prayed with me about decisions and timelines, I found myself realizing that although certain open doors had been prophesied over my life, I saw none that were open (aside from the ones I would later realize I had already stepped through and was already functioning in). Sure, I had done some knocking and looking around, but nothing had easily budged. What was I to do? Many speak of kicking down doors, doing all you can to get what you want.
What you want.
There’s the kicker. I began to see the lack of clarity on possible “other”options I was trying to manufacture, and realized that so much of what I feel I was actually meant to do, and meant to be part of, was actually already taking place, in my work at Harvest, and in the great, hopeful, beautiful city of Cornwall.
At the Ministers Fellowship International conference I attended in late September, I experienced significant moments with Jesus. I’ve never felt more committed and convinced that CornWELL is where I am meant to be for this time, this purpose, this season.
For this revelation, I am grateful.
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I’m rather proud that I’ve done 2 of the 3 exams needed to complete Level 9 Piano in the Royal Conservatory of Music! It’s taken a lot more effort than I initially anticipated when I started taking lessons again, but it has been both enlightening and rewarding to do so.
Here’s a clip of my repertoire as it was a month prior to my exam.
… Now, looming in the closing shadows of 2022 stands my 3rd and final exam: history! I am actually looking forward to this year of study of past composers, styles, and who knows what else!
Well, there is a multitude of other things I could write about – my brother’s glorious wedding, close friends having their first baby, my experience with online dating, my on-going wrestle with stress & some anxiety, my cousin’s wedding, the beginning story of owning my own home & baby grand piano, my endless and yet wondrous editing project that will one day broadcast on TV… But, by now it’s already a week into January, so I’m going to leave it here for this year and carry an attitude of gratitude into 2022!
Thank you for reading. May your year be blessed beyond your wildest dreams! ❤️