December is a welcome blast of Northern air to clean out the death and dying I associate with November.

The eleventh month is one, which – for me – embodies endings and memorials.  The last traces of the summer have gone, but the winter has not yet begun.  It’s the No Mans Land of the calendar.  Both of my parents died on November 7th … but eighteen years apart.  I miss them dearly.  They met during WWII and were buried on November 10th and 12th, which makes Remembrance Day that much more personal for me.

It’s when I finished my cancer treatment … on November 8th, 2017.

I love to stand outside on December 1st and breathe in the crispness.  I can smell the coming snow.  I revel in the seasonal scents … pine needles, fireplaces, Christmas baking and turkey stuffing.

December is a time of birth and rebirth.  Whether you believe a baby named Jesus was born or not, it’s the message that surrounds Him which is important.

LOVE.

Our lives are shallow and empty without it, yet it has become more difficult to open up your vulnerability to welcome it.

While December is the final month of the year, it is my favourite.  Because I love seasons and fresh, new beginnings.  I love making other people happy.  I love having my birthday in the last hours of the year.

Each December I choose a word to represent the year ahead.  A word that I want to live with every day.  A word I want to grow with.  A word I want to embrace.  It is something that needs my attention.  I’ve been following Ali Edward’s One Little Word for over ten years.

2008 Rediscover
2009 Jump
2010 Forward
2011 Rediscover
2012 Jump
2013 Count
2014 Attract
2015 Enough
2016 Fresh
2017 Grace
2018 Faith

I’ve already picked my word for 2019.

FEARLESS.

The Fox

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