Christmas Cards

I listened to this audiobook late last night and finished it this morning... so good!!  Annie writes about the importance of remembering God's faithfulness and kindness, about unmet expectations and what it's like to be single in your 30s, about studying a John Eldredge book, about becoming self-protective and good at directing conversations away from talking about herself, about honest wrestling with God and her own hopes, about a Bible her parents gave her for Christmas in 1995 (exact same for me), about her Mom getting married at 26 and that being part of her own life plan that didn't pan out (exact same for me), about feeling disconnected and fighting depression for a while (check), about building a great circle of friends in a new city (yep), and about finding great joy in hanging out with the young children of people she loves!  Gracious, the whole thing was very relatable.  It simultaneously made me worry my book would be too similar to hers and also feel thankful that an established, legit author and I have so much in common.  (The tone and substance and introverted perspective of my book will be unique either way, so I won't worry too much about that. I was surprised by all the similarities, though.)  

Anyway, she also wrote about sending out a Christmas card of her own - a card with pictures of her hanging out with the children of several of her friends.  She said she looked through her pictures for the ones that brought her the most joy and those stood out, and I totally get that!

It inspired me to look through my happiest pictures from this year, and instead of saving 5 or 6 that I could put neatly into a Christmas card, I ended up with 117, so I made a slideshow! lol  I'm loving this hymn song by Lauren Daigle right now!

I may still narrow it and make some sort of personalized Christmas card to send to my favorite friends and fam... but either way, looking back through the year's worth of pictures made me really happy! ❤

This month is all about celebrating thankfulness.  Today and always, I am thankful for my family, friends, food, fun, and faith in Jesus!  Today specifically, I'm thankful for great audiobooks and crockpot recipes and days off work and non-cheesy Christian movies and connecting with God.

Happy Friday!