Making Way for Greater

I love a life lesson that presents itself unexpectedly and, in the spirit of giving, the holiday delivered me one just in time for the new year. However, this lesson started back in summer as I was gathering belongings for an outdoor music event and went into my shed to retrieve a lawn chair. Although my shed was somewhat full of storage at the time with items ranging from rakes to shovels to seasonal wall paintings to decorations, I do my best to keep it organized, which is why it didn’t take me long to notice something was “off.” And that’s when I saw it: balls of cotton tuft from my patio cushions! Then shreds of material from my holiday wreaths. Then fragments of plastic from the heavy-duty bags that held my ornaments. And then I knew: something or some things had been in there having the time of their life. Cue me slamming the door shut and preparing for my next course of action.

Fast forward to hiring a wildlife removal company who luckily came the next day and confirmed what I had suspected: a band of raccoons and/or squirrels created an entry point in the upper roof area and made their way into to look for food, shelter, or nesting materials and left behind a mess. The wildlife removal agent was kind enough to help me take everything out of the shed and then he suggested I toss most of those items due to possible contamination that could result in raccoon roundworm. Say less. And so I spent the afternoon bagging and tossing items and scrubbing every part of my shed clean that I could. And let’s just say my shed was the cleanest, emptiest, and most organized it had ever been. I thought no more about the matter until a few weeks ago when I was preparing to hang Christmas decorations and went to retrieve them, which included my beautiful, beloved door wreath. Then I remembered: it had been discarded in the mass purge! And then my heart sank.

The new, improved wreath!

I had that wreath for years and loved it with its large gold bow and red poinsettia leaves, that always garnered compliments from neighbors. And for a pinch of dazzle, I added timer-controlled lights to it to give it some extra flair. My wreath was always the last decoration I hung before flipping the switch on trees, candles, and window decorations to officially mark the start of the season. And now I was down one major piece of holiday elegance; the welcoming centerpiece to my home. I immediately jumped online and began my search for a replica. Some options looked promising but reviewers said, “don’t do it; it’s a mess.” Others were beautiful but would not arrive until weeks later. I was so bummed that my search was proving fruitless and then I saw it: a beautiful, red, green, and gold wreath with TWO festive bows and which came with blinking lights already pre-installed. I took my chances and ordered it. Two days later it arrived. And not only was it more beautiful than it appeared in pictures, it was also more stunning than the wreath I previously had. After I hung the wreath and stood back to admire its beauty, I was even more grateful for the additional gift I was given in the lesson that came out of the whole ordeal: don’t be afraid to let go and make way for greater.

Whether it’s something as insignificant as a Christmas wreath or as a monumental as a career change, we often accept what we have and where we are as the best we can get, giving no thought to reaching for the greater the Universe may want to give us instead. We replace faith with fear, courage with complacency, and deliberation with doubt, missing the bounty of blessings that may be waiting for us if only we let go and let God. At this very moment, it’s also not lost on me that my morning devotional reading was from James 2, which primarily speaks of the peril of favoritism instead of fairness, but it also contains the popular verse, “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead….” (James 2:17). In translation, you can believe all you want but unless you put action behind that belief, it’s all for naught.

Furthermore, as we close out 2025 (a 9 year), we welcome in 2026 (a 1 year), numerology speaking. According to “Creative Numerology,” the 1 is a journey of change, new beginnings, independence, and becoming who you really are. Further, it states “the 1 year is a time of new interests, experiences, goals, and understandings: about life, about you, where you have been, where you are now, and where you would like to be. And, because so much drastic change is required, you will also be learning the meaning of courage.”

At the start of this new year, I am excited about what awaits not just me but all of us who are courageously letting go of what was and being faithfully open and welcoming to what is to come: the next and the new; the bigger and the better; those things that will grow, stretch, and shape us over the next decade that calls us into being our best selves boldly, unapologetically, and respectfully. And I also wish that for all of us, it won’t take calamity to move us forward—like a band of wild raccoons destroying a shed—but that instead we’ll simply acknowledge those whispers and celestial tugs at our heart from the universe bravely calling us to move and pushing us forward into our next successful realm. Therefore, in closing, I’ll share a poem from Polish-French writer, poet, and playwright Guillaume Apollinaire that has changed my life in ways unspeakable whenever fear is rearing its head and which I revisit whenever I need to be reminded of the power that lies within us if only we trust and believe:

“Come to the edge," he said.

"We can't, we're afraid!" they responded.

"Come to the edge," he said.

"We can't, we will fall!" they responded.

"Come to the edge," he said.

And so they came.

And he pushed them.

And they flew.”

Wishing each of you a happy and blessed 2026 that takes us all on a joyous "flight" filled with prosperity, peace, and purpose! We got this!

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