Post One Hundred. Sweet friends, this year has been a beautiful blessing. As I am writing this, I have completed 99 posts.
This is post 100.
I have been blessed by you: readers that have faithfully logged in again and again in search of community, family members and friends that encouraged the writing process to begin, and fellow bloggers and authors who have partnered in this new journey and have pioneered a path for writing to encourage. Thank you for reading, subscribing, and sharing!
I began writing in January with the hope to spread encouragement and joy and tomorrow begins a fresh, new January. {Therefore, my bloggiversary is right around the corner! Woohoo!!!} I didn’t share my heart every day, but was able to post several times each month. I’m rather pleased with that pace! My personal goal was to write 100 posts this year and today, I’m checking that goal off the list! Completed. The Let Every Heart Blog now holds 100 posts from 2015. This makes my heart beat a bit happier. What a gift this has been to my own soul. Allow me to share my highlights with you!
My little {grown-up} brother is a huge fan of “Top Tens” and my mom is known for ranking special moments and simple joys into “favorites.” In the spirit of favorites, here are my top five posts of 2015…you know…in case you missed the best of Let Every Heart!
#5) To My Beautiful Single Friends: When Life Isn’t at All What You Expected I wrote this post especially with one of my beautiful friends from college in mind. (She’s one of my favorites of my “people.” I treasure her, I tell you.) I have been blessed with several single friends, in fact. These friends are not defined by their marital status, and neither am I. We are created in the image of God for His purpose and our stories include different paths for the glory and purposes of God. For His glory and by His grace, our lives are beautifully unique. I hope this post will speak to your heart in whichever season it finds you. Let every heart.
#4) For All of the Graduates: When Growing Up is a Bittersweet Journey This was written from the depths of my heart in May when so many people around us are receiving those hard-earned diplomas. My precious friend, Camille, has shared in more of pre-grown up years than any other (non-related human). We met in preschool but officially became friends in the first grade and listen, dear readers: life happens. We always pick up where we left off, but time and distance after graduation have a way of decreasing shared experiences and create natural hardships in “doing life together.” Nonetheless, some friendships will stand the test of time. Read on and be encouraged to reach out to your own Camille-friends.
#3) The Friendship Every Woman Really Needs People, this is not a blog about friendship. Yet of all the things I write about, ya’all really love to read about my friendships. Um…thank you for that! I’ll continue to share from this part of my heart. This post is so dear to me. These two women are both seven years older than me and I love them like sisters. They spend many mornings in my kitchen and I love evenings in my friend, Brooke’s living room…and not just because she always makes me soup. Seriously. She always has soup ready. Thank you, Jesus. Women really do need these friendships. We need the women we can call and say, “I need to sit on your couch and drink soup after the kids are asleep,” and voila! It happens. We need this community. My friends, Brooke and Amanda are gems. This isn’t the only popular post inspired by these treasured friends. Happy reading! These girls will warm your soul…if not, call Brooke and she’ll make you a pot of soup. She really would do that for you. This is no joke.
#2) A Letter to My {Newly Engaged} Brother This post is basically my heartbeat on paper. My brother was engaged early this year and I squished every thought I could squeeze about marriage into this one post. Do you know how much it means to me to have this forever-documented on this little space of the Internet? This is a big deal to me. Siblings are the people that God gifts into our childhoods. My brother was the gift of my childhood and it brings me great joy to finally see this part of his life unfold. His future bride will be my sister so very soon and friends, she is so perfect for him. God knew exactly what my little brother needed. Perhaps you know someone getting married soon? I hope you’ll find a snippet or two of marrital encouragement within these words. Happy reading! Share on with the newlyweds (or nearly weds) in your life!
And finally…drumroll…
#1) When a Friend Does Your Dishes I wish you could see me laughing as I link this post. Who knew a pile of dirty dishes in my sink would speak so deeply to the souls of so many women. It has brought me so much happiness to see women share this post and tag their friends because obviously, your friends have seen your messiness and loved you in spite of it, as well! This. Is. Gold. Here’s the funny part of this particular blogpost that you don’t know. The secret that I know about this post? On the way to my house that early morning, my friend Amanda has sweetly said to our friend Brooke, “Hanging out with Courtney is different now! We just never know what is going to inspire her to write!” {Insert laughter here.} As Amanda left my house that day, she jokingly said, “Okay, I’ll be watching the blog today to see if you write about us,” and I joked back, “Maybe I’ll write about you washing my dirty dishes this morning,” and then added, “Hey! That’s not a bad idea!” And this post was wildly more popular than anything else I wrote all year. As much as that makes me laugh, I think I have a very serious clue as to why this spoke to other hearts. Friends, we want to be loved despite our imperfections. I hope you’ll read this one if you missed it to see what I learned and what I am still learning about laying perfectionism down to pick up the gifts of authentic community and genuine friendships. I hope you will keep sharing this with those who need the encouragement and I sincerely pray that you will have the friends who wash the dirty dishes. From the bottom of my heart, I long to be this sort of friend.
Thank you for making this year extra beautiful. What a gift it is for a simple, stay-at-home mom…a fourth grade teacher on hiatus, to share the simple blessings of ordinary days. It isn’t the bloopers of motherhood or the epiphanies in the grocery store that turn this writing experience into a community of readers. It is the goodness of our Creator, our Heavenly Father, God with Us that dwells in our hearts and shines the light of the eternal into the mundane of the everyday. It is the joy of sharing in this communion together. It is the journey to let every heart prepare Him room. May we be women who read and write to encourage one another on this side of Heaven. May we notice His presence and point all hearts to Him. May we prepare Him room in the rush of the busy, the ache of the lonely, and the sting of the disappointment. In the dark, may we shine the light to His face. In the lighter days, may we be filled with His goodness. He is with us. He is among us. May we make room for Him today and forever. In the coming new year, prepare Him room. To God be the glory! Amen.
Happy New Year, sweet friends!
From my heart to yours, ~Courtney
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