Looking Back

“There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.”

~ C.S. Lewis

Happy New’s Year Eve friends! There is only a few hours left of the year and of the decade. I don’t know what your year was like. I don’t know if it was filled with highs or lows, but either way tomorrow marks a new beginning, a fresh start.

But before that happens, I like a lot of people, take some time to look back over the year. I find that I often forget all the things that took place during the year. It’s been said that memory is an unreliable narrator and I couldn’t agree more. The present always has a way of coloring the past. I’ve found it helpful and fun to complete what I’m going to share.

I’m not disciplined enough to journal daily, but I love the thought of having a record of my year. So, while I couldn’t commit to a daily entry, I could jot down a few lines about my day on the back of a tearoff calendar. I’ve done this for several years now and I really love it. Then on New Year’s Eve I sit down and look through the last 364 days. I love the memories that come up that I forgot. I love seeing what I found important enough to write down 6 months ago. What you see pictured above is a little peek of this years pages.

I’m going to save the rest for later tonight. I’ll end up keeping a couple of them to hold onto the memory. If you’ve never done something like this before I highly recommend trying it out in 2020. I promise you’ll be so happy to look over your year next New’s Year Eve.

Praying that you end this year in good spirits and are ready to see what God is going to do in your life in 2020.

To Everything There Is A Season…

Kiley Ann

Pouring From My Cup

Here’s the thing about resting and filling ones cup - eventually you have to start pouring out again.

This year has been positive on a number of levels with the resting and refilling, but I became aware in October that my season of rest and refilling was coming to an end. I knew it would soon be time to start pouring out again, but I wanted to be more thoughtful this time around. I wanted to make sure I wasn’t just jumping into everything again to simply end up repeating the cycle.

Starting this blog is part of the pouring out. I have wanted to write for a number of years, but I have always found a reason not to. I’ve allowed the voice of fear and failure to talk me out of it. You could say that it is my prayer that God would use these words in someway to help someone. That by sharing a little of myself and my story it could bless someone else.

I’m being mindful of the decisions I’m making heading into the new year. I want to make sure I’m pouring out in small everyday kind of ways like; actually listening when someone is talking to me, smiling at strangers, checking in with friends and family. I also want to do it in larger ways like serving at church or leading a bible study. I know if I listen for God’s voice he’ll show me the way.

Moving forward, I want to make sure that I continue to fill my cup while I’m pouring out - both are equally important. Here’s hoping I can remember that well into the new year.

To Everything There Is A Season…

Kiley Ann

Filling My Cup

I talked yesterday about how my cup was empty at the start of the year. I knew I needed to make some changes in 2019, but I wasn’t sure what they were. I took the step to stop and rest, but I knew there needed to be more than that. I needed my cup refilled.

2019 wasn’t the best year for my relationship with Jesus. It’s a fair assessment to say that we weren’t on great speaking terms for a good chunk of the year. I was less than thrilled with the way my life was looking at 36. I spent a good amount of time talking AT God, but not listening to see if He had anything to say in return. Naturally that didn’t work out great in a lot of different ways. I knew the only way to change that was to spend time alone - in His word, and choose to quiet my thoughts to listen for His voice. It wasn’t an easy process and it’s still tempting to talk at Him, but the time I have spent with Him has definitely filled my cup. Listening to His voice, being in communication with God helps greatly in walking the road that is before me.

The second way my cup was filled this year was by some very special people. This year I was blessed to meet, work beside, and start building relationships with some incredible educators. This group of people are all in and what some would consider “over the top” in education. Let me tell you - THEY ARE MY PEOPLE!!! They gave me the courage to try my “crazy” ideas out in the classroom. They let me bounce ideas off of them, answered a questions when I had them, and encouraged me to keep trying even when things didn’t go as planned. They reminded me that being the wild card for the kids is what matters. They helped me see that there will always be people who think you’re too much, newsflash - those are not your people! I didn’t meet them in a religious context, but so many of them are believers and their love of Jesus is present in all they do. The more I got to know them, the more of their faith I could see. God knew I needed to meet them this year. I was headed towards teacher burnout, but they helped to refuel the fire. It filled my cup to be surrounded by these passionate people and I look forward to continuing to build these relationships.

There are a number of other things I did this year to fill my cup, but those are the two standouts. I am so grateful not to have an empty cup right now. So friends, how do you refill your cup? When is the last time you made sure to do those things. Make it a point to do something today to fill you cup.

To Everything There Is A Season…

Kiley Ann

The Time In Between

We are now in that weird in between time. When it’s after Christmas, but before New Years’s. All the days kinda blend together. You’re resting, catching up with other family and friends, and if you’re like the masses, you’re also spending some time reflecting.

I’ll admit that this is when I start thinking over the year, of what really happened in my life in 2019. A year is a short amount of time in the grand scheme of things, but it’s also long in other respects. Like most people my year has been filled with ups and downs, laughter and tears, and lessons learned.

Over the next couple of days I’ll be sharing some of those lessons I’ve learned this year. I’m positive as I take the time to really reflect a few more will come into view as well.

I’m going to encourage you to spend a little bit of time thinking over the past year, for the next four days or so. I always find that I’ve forgotten things that took place until I slow down enough to focus. Try to remember the big and small things that happened the last 360 days. And then if you’re up for it, ask God to show you His view of it all. I’m always amazed at what I overlooked. I’m amazed at how God moves in my life and how easy it is for me to have missed it.

As we close out 2019 take the time to reflect. With grateful hearts, let’s look to see what God has done in our lives this year before we look towards the next.

To Everything There Is A Season…

Kiley Ann