I can’t believe we just passed January 1st and we are entering the year of 2018.
It is traditional with me at the beginning of every new year to look back and count the “glorious-impossibles” that have happened over the last year of living within this temporary tabernacle that I walk around in each day.
If you want to look at some of the things I consider to be God’s precious blessings and gifts of daily life (glorious-impossibles) that I discovered and documented at the end of each year during the past decades; you can read the former articles here: https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/glorious-impossibles-3/ https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/glorious-impossibles-2015/ https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/glorious-impossibles-2/ https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/glorious-impossibles-2/ https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/glorious-impossibles/ (Please don’t feel you have to read ALL of these! Just if you WANT to. Today’s article is about all the glorious-impossibles from the year we just passed: 2017.
You MIGHT (by now and over the last few years) be getting the concept of what these glorious-impossibles mean to me; and how wonderful and blessed I feel about discovering them.
Long ago the concept of gratitude sunk down from my brain and hit my heart. Suddenly my eyes were opened to the glorious-impossibles of life.
“Glorious-impossibles” are those little every-day miracles where God’s glory enters the impossibles of our mundane everyday lives and brings forth something no one ever thought would be possible.
I think we all get our joy from these “glorious-impossibles” that God rains down from heaven.
These things happen all the time; but you have to be observant to see them.
Most people walk right by the most miraculous moments of their lives without even having a clue about what is actually taking place. I don’t ever want to do that!
That could be why I love photography so much. It gives me an opportunity to record glorious-impossible moments without using any words. It gives me the opportunity to tell stories in a different way than I usually do. My usual way includes lots of descriptions; but sometimes “glorious-impossibles” are not describable in words.
That ability to tell photo stories is cool! (I STILL love words though.)
Each year I follow my old tradition of remembering the glorious-impossibles from the year that has just passed.
I take just one day (a whole day around the very first of each new civil year) to bask in their memory before moving ahead with the other things that God has planned for me in the next year.
The whole idea is to savor the past before I put anything else down on my to-do list for the future.
I suppose this ritual observation that I have chosen is a type of thankfulness. I’m actually counting blessings and naming them one-by-one.
All the way through 2017, from beginning to end, our family shared a million little special moments. It is hard to even put them down into words.
As mentioned before; I think I’d rather use photos this year to tell the best parts of all the stories.
Isn’t a picture worth a thousand words?
I guess if we had a theme that ran through the year of 2017 it was to slow down, stop and smell the roses. This is something to be done more often and while we still can,
While doing this; we have truly learned the art of enjoying and being thankful for the precious time we have been given with those that we love.
Another similar focus was to set aside the things that worry and stress us out and really live a more simple; but profound life.
These types of experiences blessed us in a million different ways.
The photos that follow pretty much paint the story of the year; but they are in no certain order. Each moment was just as important as the next; though certain moments took priority and importance. I decided not to put them in order on purpose; because I love the mix of the special and the ordinary in our days.
GLORIOUS IMPOSSIBLE BLESSING OF 2017 NUMBER ONE: It was a year of playing for us.
Even though we were stuck in the eight to five grind; we cleared more time just to play.
We have already been through those hard, struggling, work-harder times of life; and we were ready for a slight break. My husband and I deliberately made time to play with our grand-kids.
It occurred to us that we also needed to take the time for more leisure and down-time in our own time together. This was an excellent decision that brought us lots of smiles and laughter; and honestly it probably was good for our overall health and welfare.
GLORIOUS IMPOSSIBLE BLESSING OF 2017 NUMBER TWO: We kept diligent times of worship and enjoyed every Sabbath to the fullest.
Worship within our own home sanctuary was amazing this year.
We feel closer to God and more aware of our destiny in His Kingdom.
This was brought closer to home when we decided to deliberately set aside special time for God’s Holy Days all year long; and we celebrated the Passover, Unleavened Bread, Early Firstfruits/Resurrection Day, Pentecost, The Feast of Trumpets, The Day of Atonement and The Feast of Tabernacles in our home with our family.
We were more conscious and aware of all the times of examining our days including Counting The Omer, The time of Elul and The Days of Awe.
Also, we enjoyed the traditions that center around Purim and Hanukkah.
Most of all our Sabbaths gave us peaceful and worshipful rest.
This year has been a year of refreshment from God.
Thankful, Grateful, Blessed
Are you listening?
GLORIOUS IMPOSSIBLE BLESSING OF 2017 NUMBER THREE: We enjoyed celebrating 25 years of a blessed marriage.
It was something we had always dreamed of doing. We wanted to get up one morning and point the car in the direction we wanted to go and drive there without a plan or a schedule.
We did this for eleven full, blessed and beautiful days.
It was of no surprise to anyone that we wound up in the Black Mountain part of North Carolina and explored that area a lot more completely than we ever had before.
We also visited parts of South Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia. It was a totally awesome trip; one that we will always remember.
GLORIOUS IMPOSSIBLE BLESSINGS OF 2017 NUMBER FOUR: We enjoyed a trip with our whole immediate family members to the lovely place we discovered on our 25th Anniversary trip called Montreat, N.C.
It was yet another amazing week for the whole family. The time with the grands and our grown kids was priceless.
GLORIOUS IMPOSSIBLE BLESSINGS OF 2017 NUMBER FIVE: We watched our youngest grandchild begin to take his first steps and begin to say a few new words.
These were some of the sweetest moments of the year.
GLORIOUS IMPOSSIBLE BLESSINGS OF 2017 NUMBER SIX: We celebrated our oldest grandson’s ninth birthday.
He is growing into an awesome person full of charm and amazing talents. His creativity and imagination are very entertaining and we are so proud of him.
This one has a heart of gold and is always doing special little things for everyone. He has so many dance steps that he could be on Dancing With the Stars! This year he has received a puppy named Willie that he loves very much. Given the fact that he was born and lived the first part of his life at the beach, he still loves turtles and any type of marine animal. He is fascinated with science and the universe in general.
GLORIOUS IMPOSSIBLE BLESSINGS OF 2017 NUMBER SEVEN: We watched our granddaughter turn three this year.
She is becoming such a beautiful little girl, so full of life and joy and energy. We are very proud of all she has learned this year. She can say her abc’s, write her own name and count to twenty. She loves stories and puzzles and playing imaginary games.
GLORIOUS IMPOSSIBLE BLESSINGS OF 2017 NUMBER EIGHT: We’ve watched all our of our grown children mature into a professional lifestyle and become very responsible.
Their concept of family has remained constant over the years and we are so thankful for that. They know they can always come “home” and they often do! We’ve had some lovely visits this year from each of them.
GLORIOUS IMPOSSIBLE BLESSINGS OF 2017 NUMBER NINE: My Mom is doing well and maintaining her health and adjusting to the loss of my father from several years ago.
She is active and surrounded by many wonderful friends. Other family members have been amazing about staying in touch and keeping her busy with fun activities.
GLORIOUS IMPOSSIBLE BLESSINGS OF 2017 NUMBER TEN: We’ve spent a lot more time outside this year.
We did this while traveling, hiking, fishing, playing in the local parks and exploring. We’ve enjoyed picnics and times of playing in an extra abundance of Alabama snow. The beauty of the great outdoors has brought an extra amount of joy to us this year..
GLORIOUS IMPOSSIBLE BLESSINGS OF 2017 NUMBER ELEVEN: We have lost many close relatives and friends; but God has comforted us and we have been assured of their salvation and that we will meet again.
This year we said a temporary goodbye to my Aunt Mary Jo and my cousin Pam. One glorious-impossible was the way Pam’s son, Stephen spoke at her funeral. We were there to comfort him; but he actually comforted us with the details of her last days and the parts of her life that he shared. It is hard to lose those that you love. God has helped us to move on and find joy again. We are thankful for all the good memories that they left behind.
GLORIOUS IMPOSSIBLE BLESSINGS OF 2017 NUMBER TWELVE: We have enjoyed lots of fun times celebrating ordinary, traditional holidays as a family.
One of my fondest glorious-impossible memories this year is of the night we viewed fireworks on the mountain behind the home of our daughter Erin’s house. That night was amazing and so filled with fun.
MY MOTHER’S DAY CREW
GLORIOUS IMPOSSIBLE BLESSINGS OF 2017 NUMBER THIRTEEN: The blessings of friends and family have been wonderful this year.
We have enjoyed many visits and have visited many ourselves. We hope to get to do a lot more of that in the future. It seems that we have so many friends and family now living in different states.
I hope you too have noticed all the glorious-impossibles that God has put into your path this past year.
Right now is a great time to stop and pause and whisper a prayer of gratitude.
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!
MAY YOUR 2018 BE FULL OF GOD’S BLESSINGS AND JOY!