2013!

I can't believe today is New Year's Eve! I mean, literally. Some friends at church yesterday were in the process of inviting us to their house to celebrate tonight. We kept saying "New Year's Eve," and I said, "wait...is that tomorrow?!" Can't believe it!

2012 has obviously been a big year for us. Marriage and moving (a little closer to the mountains!) and an ordination and so many other exciting things! It seems like two days ago that Jared and I got married and about a day ago that I met my sweet class of fourth graders. In reality, Jared and I have been married for five months and a few days, and Christmas break marks the official halfway-over point of the 2012-2013 school year! Bizarre, right? This school year has flown by. Even my weeks go by quickly; I guess that's what happens when you love your job!

Thinking back on the year, the first part seems like a blur with all of the wedding planning excitement that was going on. Once the wedding was said and done and happily married life started, things eventually started becoming normal again, and I could pay attention to the real world once more. I tend to ignore the news, mainly because it makes me sad. Anyways, all you have to do is look at Facebook and you'll know all the news you need to hear! ;)

I was thinking about the big-ticket items of 2012 - the things that people got really fired up about. The presidential election, obviously, was one of them. Fun fact - my students asked me a question about Mitt Romney that I can't recall anymore, so I typed "Mitt Romney" into Google. One of the first suggested searches that popped up in my search bar was "Mitt Romney's height." Haha is that what people based their votes off of? And for the past month or two, all you have to do is say the word "gun" or "cliff" to the wrong person and you can count on an hour-long debate commencing. I started thinking about the platform that people have found in social media - it's a place where you can be outspoken and opinionated and people pretty much have to listen to you. It can obviously be abused, but I think it has its positives, too.

For example, I've learned how passionate people are. Think about it! People fighting, perhaps in vain, for their beliefs on Facebook. While it's true that President Obama probably doesn't care what's on your Facebook page and he won't change his mind because of an all-caps post containing your rage against him, I still love seeing the fact that people care. I wish that posting a picture of an unborn baby could change abortion laws, but we all know, unfortunately, it's not that easy.

As we leave 2012 and 2013, one thing that we can do is direct our passion in a healthy way. Think about the things that you can change. We all know how easy it is to brighten someone's day by doing something that seems minuscule, because we have all had that happen to us personally. Jared and I fought for our lives in the grocery section of Walmart this afternoon (note to self - don't go to Walmart on New Year's Eve!), and we had a near head-on collision with another woman's cart. She smiled and laughed as I told her to go ahead - seeing a smile and hearing a laugh in Walmart is always welcomed! Has a stranger ever held the door for you when your arms were full, or perhaps when you were wrestling with an umbrella on a rainy day? I heard someone earlier today talking about "paying it forward" - the person in front of them in a drive through paid for her food, so she paid for the man's food behind her, and so on. Small favors like this stick in my mind because they've served as a bright spot in my otherwise normal days.

I'm challenging myself this year to channel my efforts in a more positive way. Sure, we won't change the world in a day, but think about how easy it is to make one person's world a little brighter. I know I can use a break from watching my Facebook ticker, and I think a lot of other people could say the same thing. As our Christmas and New Years season has quickly come and gone and life settles back in to a normal routine, I encourage you to find a way to intentionally help someone. Use that passion for something worthwhile...you never know the difference you could be making! Happy New Year - make it a good one!