Faith

A Reflection of 2024

Jan 11, 2025

2024 was the year of the pulse.

As someone who loves to dance, this is my reference point. An eight-count means something different to me than to someone musically-inclined. Like my husband, who plays the drums, guitar, and piano. He hears the melody of a song while I feel its heartbeat.

This year was like the adrenaline rush of a dancer’s midair leap. Where—for a brief moment—everything in the room pauses. The music suddenly stops, the ballerina flies in slow motion, head titled up slightly, attempting a straight line with her legs. The air shifts in anticipation as I hold my breath waiting for her to land safely. Gracefully, she returns. The pulse is gone. The explosion of music and movement and relief reappears. I exhale and applaud.

I guess what I’m saying is, this year I haven’t exhaled or applauded. I’ve lived hanging midair, in the pause. Frozen yet dizzying myself with a pace I’m no longer willing to keep up with. After multiple deaths in the family—deepening my desire to cling onto those who are left—and challenging schedules for both Paul and I, somewhere along the way I forgot to breathe. Afraid to breathe too deeply, for fear that the ballerina will fall. Everything will crumble. And it will be my fault.

2025 is offering me another way. I can almost taste it. A chance to trust. A reminder that in order to keep growing, falling is part of the equation. Gravity forces me down into the mess. And I continue forward. That’s my new year’s gift to you as well. Permission to smile in the pulse, to laugh even, admiring the height of the leap, instead of fearing the fall. A year ahead, full of effectiveness and also a stillness of the soul. The renewed hope in God’s expansive ability to pick us up and hold us close until we’re ready to dance again.

Jan 11, 2025 | Faith