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Day 36: Side of the Road

December is here. The final twelfth of 2014 stares us down and asks so much of us. Every January dream and July starting over comes tumbling at us at feverish pace, demanding an answer to “what did you really do this year?” And the days are filled with things to accomplish and gifts to buy and work to wrap up before a breath can be taken and feelings to consider because those who want our time so far exceed the time we have while we quietly long for that time to roll back or move forward to a better time with someone we miss or someone we still long for, and the tug inside our own hearts pulls for things to be quieter and simpler and maybe just a little happier.

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Oh, she is a beautifully troubling month, December. She is full of celebration and sorrow, full of hope and the deepest of longing.

And today, we shall respond to her. We shall take the time we are given, and we shall say, “Today, we lived. We stopped time to make time. We put away demands and picked up the best command – to love one another. And we frolicked.”

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This is my team. These are my people. Their lives have made my life better. Jordan, Jim, Alex, Chris, Karen, and Matt (who ate tater tots and cut homemade ornaments with us before leaving to get his tuxedo pants hemmed for his December 5th wedding) bring beautiful ideas to life week after week, and the demands of December in the church-world can be relentless. And so, we choose to frolic together.

How will you respond to December?

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Shoot like a Girl began as part of the #31days project. You can learn more about the “why” of my story and see all my daily posts here. I’d love to stay in touch with you – be sure to subscribe to my blog to get updates on stories and special projects.