A Year in Review: 2014

I know, I know...I have been extremely quiet this year. As most of you may already know, I left Canada to return to my native Bahamas on January 1st. The decision to leave school during my fourth and final year was one of the hardest, individual decisions I have ever had to make. I prayed about leaving Canada and then followed my peace. Many did not understand my decision, but I completely trusted God and so, in time, others trusted my resolve.

Moving back home has been great. I do feel that this is where I belong at this point in my life. By February I was employed at an offshore bank as a Junior Portfolio Manager. By March, my twin brother and I were living on our own. By April I had a car (that I fully paid off by June). And on May 28th, my 24th birthday, I met my boyfriend in person for the first time. Yes, it's been a crazy year! And that's just the first half! 

My birthday trip to Houston, TX to meet Josh. 

Josh and I met on Instagram on August 6th, 2013. Instantly, we both knew there was something special about the other person and the rest is history. I won't go into detail about us here, but there is a testimony embedded in our relationship that is worth sharing.

God has blessed me with so many opportunities and I couldn't be more thankful. I am doing courses at UWaterloo online. This works great because I am so much happier, which means I perform much better. I also had a deep desire to teach. And guess what? I do! I tutor Math 5-6 days a week across many ages, grade levels and backgrounds. The experience has been so rewarding for me and I have learned so much about approaches to math and math education.

At Grandma's funeral in Devon, England.

There were also some low points this year. In July my grandmother was hit by a cyclist while walking with her sister in the Exeter city center. She hit her head when she fell and passed away a few hours later. It was very sudden and traumatic for us...especially being all the way in the Bahamas and having to gather and glean information. My father was scheduled for his annual visit to England the very next day, which was very sad for him as she died the day before his visit. Last summer we all visited England as a family for the first time since 1997. It was wonderful to spend time with my grandmother, aunt, uncle, great-aunt and cousin. Last year's experience, however, made going to England to bury our grandmother that much harder. We passed many of the same places and did many of the same things...this time without her.

Also, two weeks after being employed at my job, we were alerted that our bank would be closing and that many of the current positions would be made redundant. Although I was fortunate to not be sent home immediately, I was one of the persons whose job was made redundant and given notice that my last day as an employee would be December 31st, 2014. Although the past few months have been filled with many goodbyes, I have secured some lasting relationships and I am extremely thankful to have had this opportunity.

Finally, the most joyous moment of the latter part of 2014 has been the release of my first book "I Gave It to the Pages". #ThePages is a project I have been working on since 2011. It started out because I realized my poetry style was changing and wanted to preserve the poems from my youth. Those poems truly encapsulated what I was going through as a young woman after losing my mother. I was doing my best to navigate through life and relationships on my own, which often left me heartbroken. Still, instead of partying, drinking, smoking or cutting...I wrote. I gave all of my emotions to the pages. I released every hurt through my fingers. Over time, I realized that my words were helping others so I couldn't bind the poems just for myself and future children. They had to be shared. 

The journey to publishing #ThePages was not easy. At one point I became afraid that no one would read my work or that anyone who did would think it was terrible. Once I overcame that fear I worked tirelessly to get the book complete. I found an amazing artist I respected to design the cover and asked my cousin, a published author, to write the foreword and that was that. If you would like to learn more about the project and/or purchase a copy, you can find it on Amazon here. "I Gave It to the Pages" is also available on Kindle here. 

2014 has been a year of purpose for me--a year of trusting God with every area of my life and of walking in that trust. Although 2 Corinthians 5:7 has been one of my favorite scriptures since I was 14, this is the first year I can truly say that I walked by faith--in complete trust of God--and not by sight. You cannot force God's hand. Trust me, I have tried. You can only trust.

I look forward to what 2015 has to offer. The Lord knows the desires of my heart. They are fewer now than they have ever been. I don't know what the year will bring, but I will endeavor to trust God with each day of the upcoming 365. 

To you beauties who have missed my posts, I promise to be more vocal. Blogging holds a special place in my heart and so I promise to be more present. 

May you be encouraged in your season of waiting. May you be steady in fulfilling your purpose. May you not wait in boredom, but eagerly pursue the kingdom of God.

I leave you with this quote:

"This is the era of Dream Catchers. The time for Dream Chasers is done."

-Zemi Holland