Appreciating the Little Things: A 2023 Review

Hello friends!

Well, we made it. It’s officially 2024. How’d that happen? A lot of insane things happened this year. God called me into deeper intimacy with him and as a result into deeper wrestling with my sin. I stepped into new areas of life, leaving behind that which I've always been comfortable in. I grew a tad bit more in confidence. I learned more about what following the Lord requires of a person. I laughed. I cried. Had times of joy. Times of sorrow. Times of nearness. Times of feeling alone. 

But overall I have grown in my love and desire for the Lord and I give him all the glory for that.

As I thought back on the year I started making a list of the various little things that have made this past year unique and lovely. These things have played a part, whether big or small, in the growth that happened this year. They helped me find joy and made me laugh, cry, and cringe. They grew my confidence, or just in general made me smile. I wanted to share them with you as a reminder to appreciate the small things, they are impactful in their own, individual ways.

The little things:

~ the wingfeather saga by andrew peterson 

I read this entire series for the first time at the beginning of the year after a long spurt of barely reading at all. That alone should tell you something about this series. They were also the first books I've read where I truly sobbed my heart out.

~ fullness of god by judah. & ephesians 3: 14-21

This Ephesians 3 passage was my verse of the year so it wasn't that surprising that fullness of god by judah. was an impactful song for me.

taken the day before the bee incident.

~ no bee allergies

Very grateful that I nor any of my siblings are allergic to bees because we had a big run-in with a large hive of wasps this fall.

~ my birthday

So, it's not that small of a thing because this birthday I turned 18 which is insane.

weirdly cute photo taken of me during water day at camp

~ camp counseling 

I was a camp counselor for a week at our 4H camp this summer. It was a great leadership experience and it was awesome being able to love on all of the kids and make new friends.

~ come behold the wondrous mystery album by the gray havens

The Gray Havens slowly released this entire album over the year and each song came out at the time when I needed them most. So that was beautiful how God did that. Favorite song: My Worth Is Not In What I Own.

~ harry potter movies

We watched all eight Harry Potter movies over the summer and fall. This was a first for the entire family. We learned that we aren’t the greatest Harry Potter fans, but none of us have read any of the books so that might’ve been where we went wrong.

~ new york city

In October, my parents took me to New York City as an 18th birthday gift. It was a sweet time to have with the two of them and overall a very memorable experience. I was able to take a lot of beautiful photos.

~ needtobreathe

I have a sister who has always been a big fan of this band, but I didn’t start listening to them until this past year! I regret that choice... this band is so good! Their Caves release was a big hit in my house.

~ LOTR and orchestra music

Seeing the Two Towers with a live orchestra and choir performing the soundtrack. What more can I say? Epic.

~ 1 & 2 corinthians

Studied these two books of the Bible as a church and it was a great time of growth for all of us.

~ art

Art will always make it onto any yearly review of mine. I did a sketchbook challenge with a friend and tried out some new mediums. I also entered two pieces into our county fair and had a booth at an art festival in September!

~ proverbs

As a church we studied Proverbs over the summer. We did a topical study which was a first for me.

~ baby animals

Our goat, Ivy, had two adorable baby girls in the spring. We named them Juniper and Fern, but we ended up selling them both. My lionhead rabbit, Tauriel, had three litters of bunnies! Jo, Beth, Amy, and Teddy came in January, Thor and Loki came over the summer, and Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy came in December. Cuteness overload.

~ leading benediction 

My church splits up the various parts of our Sunday gathering and gives them to different people who lead that time. For the past one and a half years I was in charge of our benediction. This was very challenging for me as I don’t like talking in front of people, but God used it and I am thankful.

~ growing relationships

God has been growing our relationships with a group of elderly people at a 55 and up apartment building in our town. We’ve been going there for the past two years and have gotten close with a handful of residents. We started doing a Bible Study once a week and currently have three regulars.

senior photos (a handful of them were courtesy of alayna)

~ graduating 

Um, so yeah, that happened. Done with high school now. Weeeeee

~ the ashtown burials by n.d. wilson

I read this series right after The Wingfeather Saga and I flew through them as well (though, our power went out for four days during that time so I didn’t have much else to do). 

~ exodus

We finished up the year studying the book of Exodus. I wasn’t expecting it to be as rich as it was. If you take the time to really dive into this book of the Bible there is so much depth and intricacy.

~ time with my bestie

I always enjoy my time with Alayna. She is a true friend that I can cry with, laugh with, be confronted by, be strengthened by, scream about life at, rant to, send weird photos to, and above all someone God has given to me as a sister for life. Love you girl.

~ josiah queen

I discovered this artist closer to the end of the year so it still might be to fresh, but Josiah Queen's music really resonated with me when I first heard his song 'I Am Barabbas'. Favorite song: Garden in Manhattan (came out the week after I had gotten back from my New York trip so I knew for a fact that a garden in Manhattan is a rare sight).

~ getting my driver’s license 

Soo, I also can drive now. Crazy! Turning 18, graduating, and getting my license all happened over the course of a single weekend. It resulted in a very overwhelming time for me (and my mom XD).

~ 4H fair

Our county fair is a highlight for me every summer but this year especially. Due to camp, fair week was more enjoyable as I knew so many more people! I think I was also more bold in talking to those people and that was encouraging to notice.

~ playlist for the year

This is a playlist I made over 2023 containing songs that stuck with me throughout different times.

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Thanks for reading friends and keep your eyes peeled for an upcoming post about the future of Rooted Scribbles.

Till next time!

-Emily