I thought I’d send off 2016 writing a blog post with the hopes that in 2017 I will become more regular with my writing, painting and general self-discipline.

This past year – 2016 – has been filled with an incredible amount of changes both on a personal level and on a global scale.   In 2016 my parents left their home for assisted living and Alzheimer care. This life transition for my parents has brought unimaginable emotional distress for them and for the entire family. Three generations continue to grieve with our fourth generation gratefully (mostly) unaware.

And then here in the United States in 2016 we were consumed by a presidential election filled with bitterness and anger like I’ve never seen before. This rage and division has continued well past the election pointing to the vast divide that exists here in the States. I’ve been around a very long time and can never recall feeling so alone as an American. I supported Donald J. Trump, our President-Elect, but I only state so in the company of people I know to be likeminded. Never before have I seen and felt such fury in these United States of America.

Now as we are facing a new year I ask God to help me pray more without selfishness, I ask God to guide my steps and open my heart to His plan not mine. I ask God to shine his light on our country and the world. I ask God to help us somehow to become kind toward one another, considerate in our dealings and gentle in our disagreements. Dear Lord, all of these things and more I pray for 2017.

As I wrote all this I just realized that I’d neglected to give thanks to our Lord because even in our despair over my father’s Alzheimer’s he is finally in a place where we hope he will be safe and well cared for. I also need to give thanks because my mother is now in a place where some of her day-to-day burdens have been lifted. More thanks to God that Donald J. Trump will be our President on January 20, 2017 and that he intends to represent all the people not just his supporters.

I give thanks also for my job and my ability to support myself; thanks for my home and its warmth and even its challenges; profound thanks for my sons and their families… whose love I am blessed with beyond measure. And then the most important thing of all – Dear Lord thank you for loving me just as I am.

With all this behind into 2017 I am packed for the journey with the love of God and my faith that His will be done.