I love to be chosen. Don’t all of us desire to be chosen? Whether it be for a simple game of kickball or for a more prestigious award, chosen sets into motion a place where we feel wanted and desired for something bigger than ourselves. As I age, these choosings seem to take on a more reflective nature, perhaps simpler or some may say more mundane?.

But as I slow down and listen to my life I realize that there are many things that choose me. And these many simple things are usually good things. A word might choose my heart for a while so I hold it near and dear. An image might choose my heart for a while and I must make space to look  a bit more deeply into it. A person may choose me to be their confidante, their mentor, their spiritual director and so I must pay attention and discern what it is I can offer to them.

And then there are those awesome but somewhat interruptive moments that choose my heart, like a spontaneous babysitting gig with my grand kids! I desire to make room for those very important interruptions.

I am learning to pay attention to those things that choose me.  And that is exactly how this theme Simple Keepings became my new theme for pondering, reflecting, journaling and writing for this coming season.

A few weeks ago I found this phrase on a lighted canvas in Shipshewana Indiana when spending the day there with my mom and sister Kristin and niece Claire.

I found this phrase or rather it found me. This phrase chose me, chose my heart. Each time I passed this wall which displayed many lighted pictures, I stood and gazed at this one. It seemed to choose me in creative and thoughtful musings.

So I desire to hold this phrase as I write stories, as I relive memories under this theme and as I share desires with this phrase leading my thoughts.

As I embark on this year’s reflections, I hope to recall those long ago stories and put them to words. I desire to pay attention to the new and the now as well by capturing those simple thoughts and events into my imagination and onto paper for simple keeping.

For Simple Keepings…

Sandy Boller