And can you believe we adopted Ruby from the shelter two years ago? She celebrated her second anniversary here with us over the holidays. When I say celebrated, I mean she found a wrapper from a neighbor’s Christmas ham, which contained all the discarded trimmings and fat and apparently ate so much of it that she was unable to walk home. It was getting dark, so Davis and Carson went looking for her in the truck. She was so full of ham that she couldn’t move and was just sitting with her distended belly in the neighbor’s driveway- hoping someone would come along and give her a ride home. When Davis picked her up to put her in the truck, she let out a big groan of misery. For the next 24 hours, she lay around looking pregnant- moaning, listless, and dazed until finally the contents of the ham wrapper were expelled out onto our floor. And that is how we celebrated two years of Ruby belonging to us. 

I think that’s how most of us have felt since the holidays. Not just full of cheese, but dazed, stuffed, and miserable from all the news and information we’ve consumed over the last several months in our country. I know I’m just left feeling like Ruby. All that I’ve consumed is like those ham trimmings. It won’t go up or down. It’s just sitting there in my gut- weighing on me. It’s just been too much to digest at once. I think we all especially enjoyed Christmas, this year, because we could forget about everything going on around us and we hoped that the new year would, somehow, shed a better light on things but here we are on day 7- still consuming the depressing news. It’s ok to acknowledge that we have some tough stuff going on and we can find ourselves feeling discombobulated.

I’m not sure of much, these days. I’m not sure how things will play out. I’m not sure the direction we’re headed. I’m not sure of what the future will bring. I’m not sure common ground can be found. But, I am most certain that when I am overstuffed with the worries of the world, there is One who will always come looking for me and carry me back to a place of comfort and peace. He will always help me to lift my chin- no matter how weighed down it may feel. 

I’m literally feeling lighter today after my long-awaited hair appointment. I think Katie removed about 10 pounds of hair and covered my gray, so things are looking up for the second week of the new year. Remember, sometimes, things look their very worst right before they look much, much better. Exhibit A. 

Blair and John Samuel now have COVID, but are doing good. It’s awfully germy out there, people. It’s just best to distance yourself from John Q. Public right now, but it’s going to get better! 

Happy 2021! 

Chins up!