Let’s catch up a bit…

I am working on my 2025 goals and will share them next week, but thought first we might need to catch up a bit. 2024 was a good but hard year and I was pretty quiet here on the blog. In January 2024 my father-in-law died and my mother-in-law was a widow for the second time. All the extended family spent most of the first part of the year figuring out things and helping her as much as we could.

Then in May she found out that she had colon cancer and had surgery but it unfortunately has metastasized. She decided not to take chemo (she is ready to be home with Jesus as soon as He’s ready for her), so we’re helping send her home well. We’re sad, yet rejoicing that her time here on earth is almost through. Like Susan Allibone said so well: “There is nothing gloomy in the death of a Christian.”

We also welcomed new life! Our second grandaughter was born in September and both grandaughters are just so much fun! What a precious gift from the Lord they are.

In the midst of all that (because why not?), my husband built a little farmstand from used pallets. And this summer we sold extra produce from our garden, some fresh chicken eggs, and home baked goods and jam. It’s been so much fun and a wonderful way to meet new people. Our little neighborhood community has been super supportive and we’ve had a great time with it. It’s an honor system, so I’m not out there with it all day. We open it on Fridays and Saturdays only, and thankfully we have had no problems with theft or vandalism.

In 2024 I also finished and published my very first memoir. I retyped, page by page, the memoir of Susan Allibone from 1850. I’m re-reading through it (again and again) and still gleaning so much from it. Next to the Bible, this is my absolute favorite book. If we had to leave everything and take only what we could carry, it would be my Bible and my marked up copy of Susan’s memoir.

Maybe in 2026 I’ll record a podcast of the book, one chapter at a time, intermixed with conversations with some of my friends who’ve read it. I want to talk about some of the themes in this book like death, suffering, prayer, apologetics, evangelism, meditation, etc. It’s just so, so good and I’d love to get her story out to even more people through a podcast! I know nothing about podcasting, but hopefully it isn’t that hard to figure out.

All in all, it was a hard year, but also a year with blessings and mercies from a very good God. I’m not sure what the 2025 year holds, but I did write out some goals and habits I want to work on that I’ll share soon. I’ll hold them loosely, but I might be able to make a few habits stick and reach a few goals!

How was your 2024?