Happy New Year, dear readers! Today I want to share an exercise that I tried last week on a whim, but that also turned out to be encouraging and calming for me. I’ve joined the bullet journaling bandwagon in the last year, and in an effort to find something to fill up an extra page in my said bullet journal, I made it into a reflection page for 2017. I simply titled it “2017: A Look Back,” as I’ve titled this post, and wrote down a number of things that happened in my life throughout 2017. As I scribbled away, the events and happenings that spilled onto the page began to remind me not only of the many good things that came my way in 2017, but also became markers of God’s continued faithfulness and provision in my life. Here’s my list below, and I hope it helps you reflect in similar ways. Happy 2018! 

2017: A Look Back 

• Joined Capitol Hill Baptist Church 
• Started working full-time in DC 
• Worked with people I love 
• Moved twice 
• Got to be a bridesmaid twice 
• Read 36 books (plus rereading the Harry Potter series, Anne of Green Gables, Pride and Prejudice, and The Black Moon via audiobook) 
• Visited Oklahoma for the first time 
• Visited the White House at Christmas time 
• Got to go to the top of the Capitol dome 
• Saw John Crist live 
• Saw Keith and Kristyn Getty in concert for the third time 
• Met Ben Shapiro 
• Won an Aidan Turner-signed coloring book 
• Saw The Lion King Broadway show 
• Participated in a Christmas book exchange 
• Sang in the church’s Christmas choir 
• Saw more snow in a year than I’d seen in all previous years combined (that I recall) 
• Started collecting literary prints and décor in earnest 
• Fell in love with The Crown and Victoria 
• Went on my own health insurance (!) 
• Got two people interested in Poldark 
• Finally saw the live action Beauty and the Beast come to fruition (seriously, I'd been following the process for over two years so that was a DEAL! #fangirl)