Last year was a challenging one for me with so many life changes. I rarely had time to paint—something that’s become a kind of therapy for me, much like quality sleep organizes memories in the brain. I began to think I’d never put together another family scrapbook again because it seemed meaningless. Only I seemed to care if the family memories were documented in a special book!
Then my mom, sister, and brother-in-law came over to celebrate my middle child’s birthday last week. A discussion ensued about the time mom took her grands to an escape room just to spend time with them before the oldest headed back to college. No amount of searching our phones could produce the memory, but a quick search of my dusty family scrapbooks located the illusive date! We all had an ah-ha moment as the memory—and the people involved—came into sharp focus.
January is a month for reflection. These cold, dark, shock-to-our-Southern-sensibilities days are opportunities for me to sort through thousands (did I really take that many pictures?!?) of photos I’ve taken the previous year and create albums for the bookshelf. I rely on these dreary days to force me to do this chore!
Drudgery though it is, I find the joy in the memories that’s been missing in all the disorganization!
My yearbook usually contains around 100 12×12 pages. This year could be double that, but I’ve decided to give only a spread to the big trips as a highlight, and I plan to create a travel book for our trips to Maine, San Francisco, and England. Those trips were incredible blessings to me in a year filled with change. After that, February, I hope, will bring a settled feeling to my spirit that will allow me to paint from those beautiful memories!
You may have made New Year’s resolutions; I’ve no firm resolutions for 2024, but my prayers this year will again stand on the promise in Proverbs 16:3: Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.
