January 5, 2025 // Solemnity of Epiphany of the Lord 

Dear Sister,

A new year is upon us, and everything in us wants to turn the page, start a new chapter, live a new, fabulous version of our mundane, tired lives.

And there is something so good about this pursuit. It is good to have goals. It is beautiful to have dreams and pursue them.

But I want to propose to you and to me: What if our goal for this year, nay, this moment, this day, this week, was to actually live our one beautiful, marvelous life? 

What if instead of looking for new goals and new endeavors and new heights, we soared the heights of the day we’re living right here, right now?

But what does that look like?

It means looking up while you’re surrounded by a pile of laundry and thanking God for the clothes He provided, offering one fold at a time for each family member’s salvation. It means reading a child a book for the hundredth time but this time listening to the story like it was the very first time. It means driving to work and looking at the sunrise with hope and joy about the coming day simply because God is in it and He will surprise you with His extravagant love.

I propose that this is where our goals are reached—here in this place of living our one magnificently ordinary and beautiful life. 

What if we found ourselves here? What if we found God? 

What if we woke up to our very lives? If we looked up at the sky and saw the birds who are cared for by God, looked into our spouse’s eyes and made the choice to love him, looked at our friend and chose to let our hearts be softened toward her, looked at ordinary bread on an extraordinary altar be transformed into the Son of the Living God?

What if we looked? What if we noticed? What if we really lived? 

I’m not saying for tomorrow or next week or for an entire year, because that can feel incredibly overwhelming. (Just me?) I just mean for today. What if we closed our phones and took a walk, read a book, looked at the snowfall, folded the laundry, paid the bills, did an art project, painted our dining room chairs, just lived—really lived—our lives fully awake to God’s presence?

A turn of the page. A new chapter. A new lease on an ordinary life made extraordinary by the transforming love of God. 

To living our lives,

Jenna