2023 Year in Review

There are years that ask questions and years that answer." ~Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God."

2023 asked many questions, and I'm still searching for answers.

It's good to question because it forces us to dig deeper, become more self-aware, and ultimately become more courageous as we answer those questions. I asked myself about my circumstances, friendships, and relationships. I even directed some of these questions to  God, which was not an exercise in futility. I was pointed to Him and His

Am I Too Old?

Have you ever played Bananagrams? It's a fun word game of chance where the object is to be the first to use all your letters. There are 144 letters on tiles (similar to Scrabble tiles). 

Each person draws twenty-one tiles from the BUNCH. To start the game, someone yells SPLIT.

Then each person individually turns over their tiles and forms words. They can be vertical and horizontal (again, similar to Scrabble).  You may rearrange your grid at any time and as often as you like. Once a player has used all of their tiles to form words she yells PEEL and grabs another tile from the BUNCH. She uses this tile to create another word to add to their existing words.

You Can Always Begin Again

Kidstock/Getty Images

I either learned this song - Poor Old Michael Finnegan, as a child or when I had children and I sang songs to amuse and quiet them; I'm going with the latter. Here is the first of many verses:

There was an old man named Michael Finnegan,
He grew whiskers on his chin-negan,
The wind came down and blew them off again,
Poor old Michael Finnegan, Begin Again.

New Year - Check your Vision

I've worn glasses since I was 12 years old, so I'm very familiar with what happens during an eye exam.  An eye exam is where the overall health of my eyes is assessed while also checking the quality of my vision. During the exam, the optometrist always asks me to remove my glasses - in essence putting me back to square zero. Without my glasses, I cannot see perfectly and everything is blurry. Then he puts that device in front of my eyes - and knowing what he's trying to get to - for he knows my prescription, he starts adjusting the lenses for quality and clarity.

After an initial adjustment, he starts a series of questions to narrow down the best prescription for me. "Can you see better with this lens or this lens? How about this one? Better now? Which one is clearer?" Each question requires an answer before he can proceed. He'll repeat the same process for the other eye and then he'll put them both together, and ask a bit more questions. The final test, he'll ask me to read the smallest line on the eye chart. At this point, he provides details regarding my prescription.

I have to provide input so that the optometrist can have the best direction in terms of my vision. Sometimes, though the questions seem to take a bit longer to answer, or when there seem to be multiple changes of lenses I anticipate that my vision has changed drastically. I'm always surprised to hear that my vision is still the same. Other times, most recently, I'm told my vision has changed.

Last year my dreams were blurry and fuzzy but they were also calibrated so that I could see clearly. I had a vision exam in the form of life. Things happened and I was asked, "Can you see clearly now?" I answered, "No." I stayed there for a while disillusioned and in a state of despair. Something else happened. "How about now?" "It's getting clearer," I responded. Another life event occurred. "Better or worse?" "Better." "OK, let's keep going." Again, something else happened. "Can you read the bottom line?" "Why yes, it's perfect."

The Master Optometrist was controlling the lens. It was important to Him that I am able to see. He kept, prodding, adjusting and calibrating until my vision was what it should be. I kept working with Him and providing input because I knew that He was doing things to adjust my vision so that I could see clearly.

A new year presents a perfect opportunity to check your vision. Take time to answer the questions that are being asked of you. Our ultimate purpose is to please God; as He keeps adjusting the lens we'll figure out how to do what we're designed to do. We'll keep listening and answering and we'll be confident as we execute our vision. Visions change - so keep checking in to ensure that you can see clearly.

...the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. Isaiah 60:19 [KJV]

Have you checked your vision recently? Have a wonderful new year