Bright Side

It's been a doozy of a year.  Difficult, in many, many ways.  I kicked it off at the start with the release of one book (Plain Jayne) while being waaaaay behind schedule on another (Simply Sara, the little snot). I got my first taste of book signings, radio interviews, and publicity campaigns. Danny had a promising job offer, which was very exciting until it fell through.

We continued by getting Danny done with graduate school, me turning in Sara (she redeemed herself), and flying out to the East Coast so Danny could properly matriculate, which he turned out to be very good at.  I was supposed to be working on galley edits while we were out, which I turned out not to be very good at.

During the summer, Danny and I celebrated our third wedding anniversary.  I taught at Oregon Christian Writers; Danny recovered from graduate school.  By the end of that week, both my grandfather and Danny's grandfather went home to Jesus.  We traveled to one memorial and wished that we could have been at the other as well.  Simply Sara released, looking a little out of breath. Short weeks later, not only had the previous job offer been placed back on table, but it was backed up by an interview in Memphis while I attended my first ACFW conference.

As the weeks progressed, we prepared ourselves for a move to the Mid-South when the company came back and offered Danny a job in their Richland, Washington office, a move that stunned us both but felt like a grand idea.  We tidied, we donated, we packed, we moved, we relied on the kindness of others and later drove across the country so Danny could do his engineer training in Memphis.

It's been a tricky year.  We've had a lot of loss, change, difficulties, both personal and professional.  It's been hard some times to choose joy, to choose to examine the beautiful parts while giving mourning its due.

During our trip to the East Coast we got to see some of the best-looking ceilings in the country

The Library of Congress

 

The National Cathedral

 ...and some of it's prettiest architecture.  We've gotten to visit children we love...

...and enjoy the simple beauty of God's creation near our home.

We've had adventures, and we will have more.  We visited 19 states, made new friends, visited old ones.  It's been a big year for us, and I don't have any reason to think next year won't be just as crazy.

So I'm embracing the crazy.  As long as the Father knows what He's doing (and He assures me He does), I eagerly anticipate what the next year has in store for us.

In Memorium

My strong, sassy, southern grandmother, Anna Claire Manton went home to be with Jesus early October 4th, 2008. After many years of poor health, she passed peacefully while my aunt sang her hymns. She was 84.

She met my grandfather in February of 1952. Charles was taking roll call at choir; she was new. He noticed her long, dark brown hair and red shoes and decided "I want to get to know her." They married five months later. My father was born a year later.

Even after the arrival of my aunt and uncle, the family remained a family of choir members. My dad started singing in the church choir at a young age. One Sunday, he and my uncle were sitting in the balcony, playing around squeezing each other's hands in the hymnals. Grandma left the choir loft and went up to the balcony to restore peace. She told my father that if she didn't get to sing in choir, he wouldn't get to either.

That was enough.

She's the reason I had a blue-sequined tutu to wear to my "ballet" class. She moved heaven and earth to get herself and my grandfather to my high school graduation.

Danny and I flew out to North Carolina for the service. It was one of the services that's easiest to attend; the kind where the one who passed is at home with Jesus after living a life full of love. I'm sad that Danny never got to meet her. But by the time we met, my feisty grandma had little energy and less of the personality we all remembered. So Danny gets to hear the stories of how she was, and remains in our hearts.

I have my memories. The photo at the top was a part of our wedding slideshow. I have her mother's cameo, which she gave me at graduation. I carried her black felt clutch bag to her service. I'll miss her, but look forward to seeing her again.