2016 was a bit of a roller coaster year for me, with glorious highs interspersed with terrifying lows. Fortunately, there were more highs than lows. Here in no particular order are the highs and lows of the past year.
HIGHS:
Spending time with Jojo: Jojo is my cousin Jessica's 18-month-old daughter, and due to scheduling conflicts, I didn't get a chance to see her at Thanksgiving or Christmas last year. However this year, I got to spend a great deal of time with her at both holidays, as well as during her dad's birthday party in September. Since she was older at the time I got to know her, I was able to build a better and more lasting relationship with her that will only grow as she gets older.
Spending time with Jojo: Jojo is my cousin Jessica's 18-month-old daughter, and due to scheduling conflicts, I didn't get a chance to see her at Thanksgiving or Christmas last year. However this year, I got to spend a great deal of time with her at both holidays, as well as during her dad's birthday party in September. Since she was older at the time I got to know her, I was able to build a better and more lasting relationship with her that will only grow as she gets older.
My summer job: This summer, I was the chauffeur/activity supervisor for Ally and Kira, two of my friend Katherine's granddaughters. Throughout the course of the summer, I took them to camps, to the pool, to the park, and to church activities. They taught me how to use a selfie stick, helped me overcome my fear of swimming in deep water, and became my honorary little sisters. Monetarily, it wasn't the best job, but I still felt richer at the end of the summer because there are a lot of things more important than money.
Great movies: There were three movies this year that I had been looking forward to seeing: God's Not Dead 2, Star Trek Beyond, and Priceless. All three ended up being just as good as I had hoped. It was especially fun to watch Star Trek after having seen part of it being filmed during my trip to Vancouver. I also enjoyed watching Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and was even able to avoid spoilers in the month between the day it came out and the day I finally got the chance to see it.
Powerful concerts: I attended three amazing concerts this year: WinterJam 2016, the Hits Deep Tour, and the What You Want Tour. I was able to worship God with hundreds of other believers and heard some songs for the first time that are now some of my favorites, such as "Mended" by Matthew West and "I Have This Hope" by Tenth Avenue North. I also got to meet the guys in Hawk Nelson and tell them how much I enjoy their song "Sold Out," which, unfortunately, was not one of the ones that was played. They told me that a lot of their fans like that song, but they haven't been able to get it to work live. However, they did play many of their other great songs.
The election: Although this will not make me very popular with some people, I am thrilled with how the election turned out. The push toward political correctness in this country has allowed Satan a foothold, and the more politically correct people get, the more he digs in his heels. That's why we needed someone like Donald Trump who isn't afraid to say it like it is, even if it makes him unpopular. Satan absolutely hates it when we call him out on his nonsense, and although Trump is by no means perfect, he is the man we need for the job. With Trump in office and the Museum of the Bible opening next fall, Satan won't know what hit him.
LOWS:
The election: "Wait, didn't you just say that was one of your highs?" Yes, I did, but it was one of my lows too. While I am excited by the result, the lead up to the election, and the reactions of too many people to the results, were far less exciting. With each riot and each attempt to sabotage the Electoral College, I could almost hear the scratching of the dirt as Satan dug his boots deeper into it. I breathed a sigh of relief the morning of November 9, and then another one the evening of December 19. While I knew all along that no matter what happened, God was still in control, I feared for how much ground Satan would gain before that happened. I also questioned the fate of the Museum of the Bible under a Clinton presidency.
Celebrity deaths: There were a lot of these this year, and most of them didn't affect me. However, there were three that did: Alan Rickman, Christina Grimmie, and Anton Yelchin. Rickman brought to life Professor Severus Snape in a way that no other actor could have, and his distinctive voice could have been used in so many more movies had cancer not taken him away on January 14. Recently, I saw something I had pinned with a quote about him reading Harry Potter when he was 80, and I was reminded that he never got to fulfill what he talked about in the quote because he died at age 69. Both the deaths of Christina Grimmie and Anton Yelchin, which happened a week apart back in June, were completely senseless and unnecessary. Grimmie was a talented singer and a shining light for Christ until her life was snuffed out on June 11 by a crazy, obsessed fan. Yelchin was a talented young actor whose career was just starting to take off due to his portrayal of Pavel Chekov in the reboot Star Trek movies. Tragically, on June 18, the gear shift of his SUV malfunctioned, and the vehicle rammed into him as he walked behind it after putting it in park. However, his acting chops were not the reason I mourned his death: his compassion was. The video he and Simon Pegg did for their charities, Camp Sunshine and Time is Precious, is what prompted me to donate to the Omaze To Boldly Go campaign, which ended up earning me a spot to go to Vancouver to see a portion of Star Trek Beyond being filmed. While I got to meet most of the actors, these two were not among them, and due to Yelchin's tragic death, I never will get to meet him and thank him for his part in helping me have such an amazing experience.
Katherine's death: Remember the friend whose granddaughters I spent so much time with this summer? I did that because she was fighting cancer, and she tragically lost her fight on December 21. She was an amazing woman who was a shining example of what a Christian should be. She loved everyone and encouraged those around her to be the best they could be. She started a writer's group at our church, and in the three years I was a part of it, she was completely supportive of my writing and encouraged me to keep writing. Throughout her battle, I had hoped that she would pull through, so much so that as her condition worsened, I was in denial that her death was becoming more and more likely, and I stayed that way until about a week before she died. While I know that she is now up in Heaven, and no longer has cancer raging through her body, I still feel sad because she's not here anymore. I just pray that all of those who loved her will be able to carry on her legacy and remember all she taught us.
Depression and anxiety: While I have struggled with these two things for years, the struggle was a lot harder this fall than it had ever been before. I resolved a while ago to control my symptoms with prayer rather than medication. Not that there's anything wrong with taking medication if it's needed, but I felt that mine was never bad enough for me to risk the side effects of the medications. However, there were times this fall where I was sure I would have to break my resolution, even at one point thinking that I would relish becoming addicted to them just to avoid my almost constant state of panic. How I felt scared me and convinced me that I needed to focus on praying about it more often and more fervently. I am pleased to say that with God's help, I made it through.
Katherine's death: Remember the friend whose granddaughters I spent so much time with this summer? I did that because she was fighting cancer, and she tragically lost her fight on December 21. She was an amazing woman who was a shining example of what a Christian should be. She loved everyone and encouraged those around her to be the best they could be. She started a writer's group at our church, and in the three years I was a part of it, she was completely supportive of my writing and encouraged me to keep writing. Throughout her battle, I had hoped that she would pull through, so much so that as her condition worsened, I was in denial that her death was becoming more and more likely, and I stayed that way until about a week before she died. While I know that she is now up in Heaven, and no longer has cancer raging through her body, I still feel sad because she's not here anymore. I just pray that all of those who loved her will be able to carry on her legacy and remember all she taught us.
Depression and anxiety: While I have struggled with these two things for years, the struggle was a lot harder this fall than it had ever been before. I resolved a while ago to control my symptoms with prayer rather than medication. Not that there's anything wrong with taking medication if it's needed, but I felt that mine was never bad enough for me to risk the side effects of the medications. However, there were times this fall where I was sure I would have to break my resolution, even at one point thinking that I would relish becoming addicted to them just to avoid my almost constant state of panic. How I felt scared me and convinced me that I needed to focus on praying about it more often and more fervently. I am pleased to say that with God's help, I made it through.
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