Wow, we made it through Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, (skip Sunday), Cyber Monday, and Giving Tuesday. RIP to our inboxes. I could not be more sick of emails asking me to buy, shop, and give. But don’t think for a second I didn’t drag my husband out on Black Friday.
Anthropologie never puts candles on sale so that’s my one day to buy the largest candle in the store for 30% off. I also bought some gorgeous corduroys and a button down. And we finished our Christmas shopping before December 1st. There’s a first time for everything; look at me go, shoot, maybe I’ll even send cards this year!!
When we moved to Durham, and settled on a river, I started walking through the woods regularly. The trees touch the heavens and sway slow in the breeze. I wonder how long they’ve been there. I wonder what they’ve seen. As the leaves turned from green to scarlet, persimmon, and amber, I thanked God for my own changes.
Now, as they shed into a barren sea of sticks, stems, and branches, I thank God for the skin I’m shedding, for the things I’m letting go. The trees in these woods are older than sin and I am reminded that we go barren to bloom again.
The trees are still here. You’re still here. I’m still here.
Despite our turning and shedding, despite the elements and circumstances, we brave another season, another winter. And we do so with the confidence that we are never alone.
I’d love to share a prayer from Adele Calhoun1 that has served as a guide for me in the last quarter of the year. A prayer of acceptance for the life we hold.
“Lord I am willing to receive what you give, release what you take, lack what you withhold, do what you require, and be who you desire. Amen.
May the grace of God be yours this holiday season.
Love always,
Ashley
Calhoun, Adele Ahlberg. Spiritual Disciplines Handbook : Practices That Transform Us, InterVarsity Press, 2015.
Love this so much! I can relate to this post so much! Love you! Happy Holidays friend!