Usually I write long letters for Christmas..
Usually, we take family pictures at Walls Tree farm and usually I have tons of gifts wrapped up under the tree.
Usually, my studio is decorated and my clients are greeted with candy canes and hot cocoa and usually I hand out boxes of cookies, too.
Usually, I wear lots of eye makeup and add lashes just because.. and usually I’m running around from one place to another with a long list….
But this year hasn’t been “usual” for me at all.
Maybe you don’t know me-yet-maybe you know OF me… Rockwall is still a small town in many ways.

I’m the deaf gal that writes a blog, walks on people (Ashiatsu babe), and dances on the square.. and usually I take it for granted that I can do all those things I am known for and love to do… But, this ain’t been an usual year and after I read this post by Amy Weatherly,I knew I had to share it here .

This has been one helluva year .. and this Christmas I’m not taking anything for granted- not the steps I can now climb, not the great taste of coffee and peanut butter cookies, not the giggles of children, not the steadfast love of a good man and wonderful kids, not the deep friendships and texts that kept me going.
All those things that I usually took for granted, mean so much more this year.
You know why? God took me out of my usual life style and let me learn-the hard way-just how blessed I am. Usually, I keep my faith to myself…. But during this past year, I’ve felt the constant presence of the Holy Spirit protecting me and healing me and pursuing me .. That’s not usual for me…. But then again, ain’t nothing been usual this year… So here we are .. Merry Christmas, y’all… Pull on your boots and do what’s right this season! Don’t take nothing for granted and love big much! Be unusually generous and compassionate to yourself and to others!
Much love,
Jeanna’ Mead

writingmyheartout #deaftherapist #myownwords #jeannasoul

“After the year we’ve been through, I hope we’ve all learned that this is the season.

This is the season to actively pursue joy, and this is the season to intentionally choose peace. This is the season to forgive, and to do whatever you can to find some bandaids and a new perspective and soothing words to heal old wounds and patch up past scars.

This is the season to reach out, and to make fresh starts, and to chart a new path. This is the season to let drama go, and to loosen your grip on bitterness, and anger, and resentment. This is the season to tell somebody you love them. Right now. No waiting. No assuming they already know.

After all we’ve lost, I hope we’ve all learned that this is the season.

This is the season to give.

This is the season to be grateful, and to be good to each other—to our family, to our friends, to strangers across the world and strangers right here in our hometowns. This is the season to appreciate what we have, and who we have, and who we are.

This is the season to figure out what really matters, and to release whatever doesn’t. This is the season to hold hands, and come together, and invite more to the table and to appreciate how we all belong to each other. How we are all woven together and connected in this weird, wonderful tapestry of life.

This is the season to be careful with what you say, and how you say it because nobody is their best right now. We’re all a little heartbroken, and so we have to make a decision—do I add to the heartbreak? Do I continue the cycle, or do I add to the heartmending? Do I hurt, or do I help?

This is the season to share.

This is the season to figure out where you have some extra, and hand it out freely. This is the season to let vanities go, and to find courage, and to walk in total freedom.

This is the season to love.

And this is the season to listen, and learn cause somebody out there has a point-of-view that’s not at all like yours—and maybe it isn’t wrong, and maybe it isn’t right. Maybe it’s just different, and that’s okay. It’s nice to take a second to put on someone else’s shoes and understand them a little better. Maybe that’s the start of compassion, and maybe compassion is the start of coming together.

Maybe this isn’t the season to push people away after all. Maybe this is the season to pull people a little closer, and recognize the common threads that run through us all.

Maybe this is the season to do a little more of what Jesus did. ❤️

Love,
Amy*