As David mentioned on the car ride home today after realizing that our beloved Woodland Costco has been open for nearly a year, "the days are just flying by". I once thought that you had to be at least 40 to start making cheesy comments about the rapid passage of time. But ever since graduating college, I've found myself reflecting much more frequently about how another week, another month, another year has sped by.
At first glance, it is hard for me to define the year of 2008 in one short sentence, like 2005 (the year we got married) or 2006 (the year we bought our house). It seems like there was no large defining event for 2008 in the life of the Sholers. But digging a little deeper, there are several milestones for 2008 that come to mind.
This was the year that David and I both realized what career dreams we'd like to pursue (finance for David and career counseling for me). And then we researched how we could possibly make these dreams a reality (grad school). And now we're in the process of applying and hopefully both starting school in the fall. After a few years of uncertainty, it's a liberating feeling to have a sense of what I'd like to do with my life...even though I know it might mean 4 long years of going to school and working full time. How different things could be for us this time next year!
This was the year that Threshold, the post-college ministry at our church that I help coordinate, really grew in numbers and became a thriving community. After almost two years of wondering if there would ever be a steady base of people, me and others on the planning team were getting weary. However, God gave us the spirit of perseverance and I am so overjoyed to now see new people every week join the group and find a community of other people with whom they can celebrate, laugh, pray, and discuss life's hard questions.
This year was the year that I was reminded of the importance of having a sense of wonder of the world around you. This reminder came through our two trips: DisneyWorld and Costa Rica. Both of these experiences had their awe-inspiring moments---watching the Magic Kingdom fireworks at 17 stories high, standing on a beach with monkeys howling in the trees around you, or seeing scarlet macaws in flight-- and these moments make me remember that our Creator has such a vivid imagination and created us to LIVE and soak in as much of His creation as we can, no matter where we are.
And finally, this year was a year that I had a small stirring of desiring to have kids. It's not that having kids was never in the picture and now it suddenly is, but I've come to a place of thinking that if it were to happen sooner than we plan (we'd prefer to wait until we're both done with school), I would be content with that. I've never really been a maternal person and since being married, there have been actual feelings of dread at the thought of having a baby, terrified at how it would change our marriage and how I could handle a little being that screams, poops, and depends on me for everything. But now, after three of my sorority sisters either gave birth or became pregnant this year, I see their joy and get excited at the idea of extending the Sholer clan. However, unless God has other plans, this likely won't be for another several years so don't expect birth announcements anytime soon!
So it's obvious that 2008 is not a year that can be summed up easily, but it definitely was a memorable year full of new places, people, and experiences. Here's to 2009!
Reading Challenge: Debut Works
3 weeks ago
