I hope 2022 brings you some good old-fashioned happiness. I never used to be that big on happiness. It seemed frivolous with so much more important matters, work to accomplish, children to raise, chores to do. But after 2021, I’m ready for some simple happiness.

I’m asking myself this month what can I do to make myself happier?

I want to be more happy this year. I know “more happy” isn’t good grammar, but one thing that makes me happy is breaking writing rules if I can break the rules in a meaningful way. I’ve been working with a fantastic fiction author coach since September. She has me weaving first and third-person narratives in my latest novel. It’s tricky. I thought maybe it was beyond my ability to really pull off. But after five months of fits and starts, I think the narrative is finally flowing. I’m learning something new. This makes me happy.

Being grateful makes me happy. Sadness weighed me down in 2021. So many people passed away. Not just older friends but young friends too. We began the year with baby Benjamin’s funeral. January 14th will mark our grandson’s first birthday. I never thought we would bury a grandchild. And then lay to rest two more young folks this past fall. It so broke our hearts to lose these precious kids.

Out of all this suffering, I have learned sorrow sweetens joy. Sorrow is the soil for joy to grow in your life. Tears water joy. Real God-given joy.

Standing at the graveside of a teenager who spent a lot of time with us during the quarantine, one of our son John’s best friends, Kyle, and then just two weeks later, our daughter-in-law Alex’s little brother, Scottie, brother-in-law of our oldest son, Luke, along with numerous other funerals this year, I realized life is too short to not be grateful every single day. Being thankful makes me happier.

Every New Year’s we walk down to our ravine to gather rocks to write our word on for the year. California was blessed with record rain and snow in December, so we actually have water running in our creek this year. It was harder to find rocks, but the sound of a flowing creek soothes me.

Being out in nature makes me happy. If you have not discovered this yet, give it a try. Go for a walk in the country, or a park, or the beach. The mountains are perfect too. Anywhere you can hear birdsong. And see bees and butterflies. Visiting rivers, lakes, and oceans can be so calming. Every living thing needs water. Drink more water. Eat your greens. Feeling healthier makes me happy too.

The week before Christmas, I landed in the hospital. I walked into the ER with severe chest pain, my left arm numb. I’ve had a few bouts of this since September. In December, it rattled me enough to drive to the hospital. I didn’t want to worry Scott and the boys so I left alone very early in the morning thinking they would tell me at the ER my chest pain was not serious, maybe they would give me something for gastritis, but upon arrival, after numerous tests, the doctor decided she was concerned about my heart. I’ve been concerned about my heart too. 2021 shattered my heart.

I spent two days in the hospital. It wasn’t pretty. The other patients were terribly sick. My roommate, a woman my age was paralyzed from a stroke she’d had three months prior, she’d been in and out of hospitals since then. Her plight was so sad. The whole thing was so humbling. To make a long story short, my heart suffered no damage from the episode and I was told to lower my stress and not to get the covid booster shot right now since the J&J vaccine was hard on my body. Not to ruffle anyone’s feathers here. This isn’t a political post. I’m just sharing my hospital experience.

I prayed a lot while in the hospital, not just for myself, but for the worn-out nurses, the tired-looking doctors, and the very sick patients. Even the patients’ families. My paralyzed roommate’s husband and children especially. Health is a spectacular gift. I never want to take good health for granted again. I sensed the Lord promising me in the hospital that He would renew my strength, and He has. I’m feeling much better after getting lots of rest this past month.

Our 16-year-old son, Joey, chose the word endurance this year. When I saw his rock, I nearly cried. The kids have borne the weight of the past two covid years. Children have paid a high price for the quarantine. Some of you know that one of the boys in our pictures is not our son, John, who spent the New Year with friends in Reno, Nevada. This boy is Keenan, a teenager who has stayed with us off and on for the past several years.

Keenan is now headed for a military school in Stockton, CA. and Hawaii. I so appreciate you praying for Keenan’s future success. We think the military will fit Keenan well, but he is still just seventeen, and it’s hard to leave home and all you know at that age.

Scott’s word for 2022 is Pray. “You’ve chosen this word before,” I told him when he wrote it on his rock. “I still need to pray more,” he said, and his smile was weary on our walk to get our rocks. I feel like the past two years have aged us a lot. And yet, aging is a gift. Many people don’t get to grow old. I don’t want to wrestle with aging any longer. Accepting growing older gracefully will make me happier.

Have you thought about more ways to experience happiness in your life this year? I hope you will consider, “A happy heart is good medicine,” Proverbs 17:22.

A couple more things that make me happy: a warm fire, my favorite pair of well-worn boots, reading the Bible with our boys after a busy day. It’s often right before we go to bed and we all sit around in front of the fireplace growing sleepy as we take turns reading the word. It quiets my heart and calms my soul every time. Even the boys enjoy it. We also read a devotional, Valley of Vision, a timeless collection of Puritan prayers after we read the Bible. This is our sons’ favorite devotional even though the language is all thees and thous and we often come across words no longer used in our modern English language. We sometimes end up laughing over words we do not know and cannot pronounce because we’ve never heard them before. But this ancient devotional nails the human condition better than anything I’ve ever read besides the Bible.

Wishing you all a very happy new year. Love you, my friends. I’m so hoping the next time we meet, I’ll be able to announce the birth of Lacy and Jake’s baby boy, JJ, due February 21st. We so appreciate your prayers for a safe, sweet delivery for our precious rainbow baby grandson coming soon, God-willing.