A Hopeful Prayer for 2021

How the Light Comes 

by Jan Richardson

I cannot tell you

how the light comes.

What I know

is that it is more ancient

than imagining.

That it travels 

across an astounding expanse to reach us.

That it loves

searching out

what is hidden,

what is lost,

what is forgotten 

or in peril

or in pain.

That it has a fondness for the body,

for finding its way

toward flesh,

for tracing the edges

of form,

for shining forth

through the eye,

the hand,

the heart.

I cannot tell you

how the light comes,

but that it does.

That it will.

That it works its way

into the deepest dark

that enfolds you,

though it may seem

long ages in coming

or arrive in a shape

you did not foresee.

And so

may we this day

turn ourselves toward it.

May we lift our faces.

to let it find us.

May we bend our bodies

to follow the arc it makes.

May we open

and open more

and open still

to the blessed light

that comes.

View From Here // We Are Godparents ♥♥♥

an image // from the week // no words 

♥, Molly

Helloooooo!

glowstick writing on New Year's Eve

My new goal for 2013 is definitely not a "check it off the list" type of thing.  It's more of a process.  (Yeah--probably one that will take me the next 50 years to accomplish!)

In 2013 I'm going to work towards being on time.

Those who know me well are probably laughing right now. Yeah, well me too.

So, here's the game plan.
1)  I'm trying to shift my whole frame of mind and adjust my attitude towards punctuality.  In theory I value being on time.  In reality I don't show up on time because it isn't that important to me.  Hmmmm.
2) Only schedule things that are important to me.  In other words, cut things from my calendar that aren't important.  This is going to require saying no.  Saying no is really hard and kind of scary.
2) Record it in my calendar. A million reminders on my phone will be better than storing it in my head.  While I'm at it, I'm going try to to put in appointments 10 minutes early. 
3) Assume it will take longer than I expect.  I always think I'm going to whip right through things and demolish my to-do list.  For some reason I still can't grasp the fact that I'm a very. slow. worker.
4) Use a timer.  I'm sometimes good at this.
5) Set up ahead of time.  I'm late once in awhile because I forget stuff.
6) Get off the internet.  I'm sure you have no clue what I'm talking about.
7) Plan for trouble.  If I aim to be on time then I have no buffer if something goes wrong.  A little wiggle room is a good thing. 

Do you have any goals for the upcoming year?
♥, Molly

Check Yes ✔

For my friends and family who haven't yet heard, I think a little introduction is necessary.    Over the past few months I've been spending a fair amount of time with this guy . . .

ha!  he's going to be so pleased that i posted these... ☺

Kind?  ✔
Honest and open?  ✔
Supportive?   ✔
Keeps me laughing?  ✔
Thoughtful?  ✔
Encouraging?  ✔
Willing to talk about things? ✔
Patient?  ✔
Makes me feel respected, cared for, and appreciated?  ✔
Fun to be around?  ✔   
United in faith and purpose? ✔ ✔✔

It was the classic scenario:  Girl likes guy.  Guy doesn't even know girl exists.
For like 3+ years.

And good thing.  Over the course of all those years, guy and girl were both in confusing on again/off again relationships with other people.  Guy and girl both needed to do some growing and changing.  

Then, this fall, the timing was finally right.  Something changed.  Guy finally noticed girl!  Guy asked girl out.  Girl decided to check yes. ✔  

Best decision ever? ✔
Happy? ✔✔
Thankful? ✔✔✔

♥, Molly

P.S.  Excited for you to meet him in Washington this April? ✔

28, A Year in Review

Each December my mom has this tradition where she asks us to share a few key moments of our year.  She likes to call this little Q. and A. session "Highlights/Lowlights."   I shared my "Higlights/Lowlights" online in 2009 and 2010, but 2011 slipped away from me before I could properly review all that had happened. Since my birthday isn't too far into 2012 I'll use it as my excuse for a little look back.

Here you have it--28, A Year in Review. 

a very special 28th birthday bash (photo by Jill)

desert nights//flying my kite (photo by Hannah)

skype dates

kayaking in the mangroves (photo by Ina)

riding the fastest roller coaster in the world! (photos courtesy of Jill)

dhows and dolphins in Oman

may 25: lymph node biopsy (photo by Hannah)

comfort--the kind that only dads can give (photo by Wendy)

hiking the chuckanuts (photo by Dave)

molly, caitlin, galen (photo by Wendy)

Caitlin graduates from nursing school! (photo by Dave)

june 25: surgery in Missouri; laser beams coming out of my nose; and a reunion with Kiely, my best friend from high school (photo by Dave)

4th of July: sparklers in the city (photo by Jill)

last day of school! (photo by Jill)

our friend, cheyenne // crazy hair (photo by Fi)

sister time (photo by Caitlin)

staying cool during Ramadan

buzz cut! (photo by Hannah)

sunny days

infusion center (photo by Jenny) // Jollytime in Bangladesh (photo by Jill)

mom at the emirates palace

sunset in the desert

60th birthday celebration//get well flowers

national day at my new school

travelating in Bangladesh (photo by Jill)

home for the holidays

allan♥hannah

recovery! (photo by Jill) // Bahrain

YAY! celebratory campfires

sunny winter afternoons (photo by Jill)

weekend getaways // turtles on the beach (one of my very favorite moments of the year)

Highlights:  an amazing weekend in Washington where I was able to see my whole family; the ways people reached out to me when I was sick; having friends all over the world; a sister road trip to Salalah; the care and compassion my nurses showed me; a serendipitous trip to China; mom's visit to Abu Dhabi; Dr. Kristensen; having a job & a way to support myself; watching the turtles nesting on the beach; podcasts; Christmas & New Years at home; Dr. Stangier; biking to work; campfires & camping trips; warm, sunny days; the people at Crossroads; 2 successful surgeries; full coverage health insurance (hamdillah!); wonderful coworkers who rallied around me; Jollytime Bengali Edition; a whole month of sister time; the "I ♥ Molly" video masterminded by Rosie & Brie; weekend getaways with friends; clean scans; so many people who were in the just the right place at just the right time to help me when I needed it most; REMISSION!

Lowlights:  trying to balance work & life; feeling lonely; bed bugs; watching friends' marriages unravel; going through chemo so far from home.

28 wasn't my best year . . . but it was still a good year. A lot of hard stuff happened that I did not expect. But because of all the bad stuff, somehow a lot of good stuff happened, too.  God promises us that all things work together for good and even though I don't understand it, I saw it in action.  28 was pretty powerful in that way.  You should ask me about it sometime.

Tomorrow is my birthday.  Until this point I've always automatically expected to make it to the next one--the possibility of not turning a year older wasn't really even on my radar.  It's weird to think that under different circumstances, I might not be getting the chance to experience 29.  For that reason, this birthday feels more like a celebration.  Conversely, it feels a bit somber, too--a reminder that another year isn't something to just take for granted. 

Hello, 29.  Nice to see you.  

It's good to be alive.

♥, Molly

Check. Check. FAIL.

i put so much thought and effort into making goals for 2011 (here, here, and here) that i thought it only proper to do a quick recap.

 + make moss graffiti.

 and the results are in . . .
1. pay off student loans. check.

karate chop that college debt

2. get a new job. check.  (getting the job and starting the job are 2 different things, right? right.)
3. email! FAIL. big FAIL.


♥, molly

In with the New

In general, I'm much better at making goals than I am at accomplishing them. However, that doesn't seem to stop me.  This year I decided upon a serious and somewhat silly mix of things I want to work on in the upcoming months.

My 12 resolutions for 2012:

1. Send home ____ dirhams each month.

2. Learn how to change a flat tire on my bike.

3. Figure out imovie.

4. Practice planning ahead, doing little bits along the way, and avoiding last minute crunches.

5. Go on a hot air balloon ride.

6. Respond to emails within 1 month of receiving them.

7. Finish reading my camera book.

8. Set better boundaries.

9. Practice more consistent giving.

10. Declutter, organize, and back-up my electronic life.

11. Ride my bike without hands.

12. Rehabilitate my shoulder so I can do yoga, lift, and rock climb pain-free.

Wishing you all the best for the year to come!
♥, Molly

goals pt. 3

all images from Environmental Graffiti

doesn't this moss graffiti stuff look like fun? i think it just might have to make its way onto the resolution list, too.

if you're feeling so inclined, here's few recipes for whipping up your own batch:
How to Make Moss Graffiti
Moss Graffiti


tweet!
-m.

goals. pt. 2

After much deliberation, here are my 3 "official" resolutions for the New Year*!

1. pay off my student loans
I'm so very excited to tell you that I just made good progress on this one! My Federal Stafford Loan is FINISHED! Only one more loan to go . . .

2. get a new job
Working on it. Sorta.

3. email friends and family on a consistent basis; respond to emails in a timely fashion
Not sure how to break this one down into realistically do-able bits. It's also a little tricky because it must be maintained; not just one of those things that can be crossed off the list when accomplished. Plus, the more you write, the more people write you back. Which--even though that's the whole reason to email in the first place--the idea of the exponential Inbox makes it a bit overwhelming. Anyone have a correspondence system that works for them?

ready. steady. GO!
-m.

*I really like capitalizing New Year. I think it makes it more special.

looking forward to a . . .

. . . berry good new year with some berry good changes in store.

while on break, jill, caitlin, and i talked a fair bit about what we want to do differently in 2011. my list is by no means complete. here are a few of the (many) things that could use some improvement. it would be berry good to . . .

• respond to emails (unfortunately it's pretty common for me to take 9 months to get back to someone. boo.)
  
• pay off my student loans
• organize my computer desktop and files
  
• write my grandparents letters and emails; call them on the phone (i miss them!)
  
• NOT allow myself to amass heaps of uncorrected papers
  
• run a marathon (maybe a half marathon. or do a triathlon.)
  
• get a new job (my contract in the UAE is up this summer. i think i'm ready for a new adventure.)
  
• upload my photos onto facebook (i've got 14 months and 7 countries worth of pics to post!)
  
• plan for the upcoming school semester; plan for each school week
• dig deeper into friendships (i've been a very bad friend his year)
  
• read more books (in general)
  
• read A Million Miles by Don Miller, Surprised by Hope by N.T. Wright, Women, Food, and God by Geneen Roth, and more of the Bible (specifically)
  
• trim back my google reader and keep only the blogs that i really like (thanks, caitlin for pointing out i have over 1000 posts to read!)
  
• eat more vegetables and drink more water (always)
  
• travel. (maybe prince edward island. or the seychelles. or new zealand. or china.)
• bike through a country. (maybe spain. or the ukraine.)
• be more loving, affirming, and patient with my girls
  
• finish blogging about my trips to thailand, egypt, nepal, and the PNW. start blogging about azerbaijan, turkey, india, and jordan.
  
• save more money. (maybe for the beginnings of graduate school. maybe for the beginnings of a down payment.)
  
• cook more often
  
• be better about letting people know they're appreciated
• follow through on my commitments
• lose some weight
• be more balanced in how i spend my time, money, and energy
  
• do more yoga
• keep things simple. (he he!)
  

i'm still strategizing. i want my goals to be obtainable, helpful, worth the work, and--well, berry focused.


stay tuned . . .
-m.

Happy New Year 2011

2011 is here!

Keeping with tradition, it's time for the annual "Highlights/Lowlights." (This post is for you, Momma!)

Lowlights: missing out on so much life happening back at home (weddings and babies and milestones, oh my!); unclear expectations at work; probably spending too much money on travel; the nagging feelings and negative consequences of disorganization and lack of time


1.Camping trips (Jan.) 2.Thailand (Feb.) 3.Emerging writers (Mar.)
4.Hump Day Dinner Group (Apr.) 5.Egypt (May) 6.India (June)
7.Charlie (Jul.) 8.Mountains (Aug.) 9.Turkey (Sept.)
10.My students (Oct.) 11.Nepal (Nov.) 12.Dear friends, both near and far
(Dec.)

Highlights: the little people in my life (like 4 special redheads and about 100 adorable first graders); being able to drive; camping trips; moleskin notebooks; snuggling under warm blankets; sunsets; learning new words in Arabic; the color of the water in the Gulf; bicycles; trapping cats; blissful summer months in Washington; letters from grandmas and grandpas and friends; mountains; breakfasts at Old Town; doing things I didn't think I could do; friendships forged while traveling; when my little girls write stories; creating 'family' in Abu Dhabi; rock climbing; hosting Caitlin in Abu Dhabi; Glee; hearing "I love you, Miss Molly" from my sweet students; paddleboating at the beach in December; small-group; going to faraway places I never really believed I would ever get to see; balmy, sunny days; riding a happy, healthy Charlie; Chacos; Hump Day Dinner Group; friendships that have lasted despite the distance and spordic communication; my dear family . . .

. . . aaaand all the great folks who stop in and visit my little blog. Thanks for being a highlight in 2010. I so appreciate your kind thoughts, your friendly reminders, and for sharing in such a big year.

Wishing you much beauty and light in 2011!
-m.

Venturing Out

No, life cannot be understood flat on a page. It has to be lived; a person has to get out of his head, has to fall in love, has to memorize poems, has to jump off bridges into rivers, has to stand in an empty desert and whisper sonnets under his breath . . . We get one story, you and I, and one story alone. God has established the elements, the setting and the climax and resolution. It would be a crime not to venture out, wouldn't it?

thoughts for the new year from Donald Miller in his book, Through Painted Deserts

{me on a dune in the desert by Liwa; photo by Jill}