Notes from the Margins: Before We Turn the Page on 2025
Janna Wilson
Two days remain in 2025. It’s been a good year.
A hard year.
A blessed year.
The end of this year is quite literally our new beginning.
Through 2025, God has led, and we have followed. He’s wrought patience in us these last months. We had no choice but to wait.
No control over circumstances relating to selling our home and moving.
Just God.
His will. And His timing.
And — our God is so faithful. We closed on the sale of our home a week ago. Right on time. And here we are — sitting on top of windy Dandy Hill!
And now I’m enjoying some precious days off, setting up house, feathering my new little nest, dusting off my blog, reflecting on the last 363 days. Musing on God’s perfect provision. His timing. His plans are always better than mine!
Oh goodness, there is just so much to say and share. These days, I find myself holding my stories closer to my heart. I’m not sure if it’s me being selfish, or safe, or just having lacked the energy to “live” or give anything in the online space. I see social media paralyzing and laden with anxieties and pressures. Ick. “Can’t live with it, can’t live without it,” as they say.
I just want true connection, community, and relationships. I want for a quilting bee, a book club, and afternoon teas. I want to use the good dishes. I want to roll out biscuits and drink coffee in the wee hours every day. I want to feel paper and pens and books. I want to mail letters and find letters in my box. I want to sew and crochet and make time for those who need this same respite from the world. I want you to pop by and I want to stop in. I want more time on the porch in the rocking chair with my people. I want to kick against AI hard, even though my day job is with a tech company. Oh, the irony. I want a few friends who have gone before me and some coming up after my girls to need me still, just a little. I want to make something.
Books?
I want to be an editor. And you know what? I can be. I already am.
I had this epiphany this morning as I felt a bit of imposter syndrome penning a “letter from the editor” for a project I’m dreaming on.
“Definition of ‘Editor’ –
1. One who edits.
2. A writer of editorials.”
My pastor often recites definitions of commonly-known words just to make the point that sometimes, though we know and use a word every day, we need to think a bit more contemplatively about their meanings, or — perhaps how a particular word’s meaning has evolved at the mercy of time and culture.
So as I was writing this morning, I thought about the word “editor.” It sounds somewhat fancy and we typically associate it with the publishing industry. But truly, aren’t we all editors of our own story? Perhaps we are not the authors; I personally give God the credit for authorship, but we each have a free will and reign over the chapters of our lives. And what do we do? We pencil outlines (plans), we revise, and refine. We’d probably like to erase, but maybe just tuck pages away or rip out to start fresh. We add to our stories. Sometimes we buy a whole new notebook to give it another go and shelve the previous chapters. We mark it up as we reflect on things gone wrong and highlight the parts that are worth re-visiting. I just find this line of thinking quite fascinating.
So, how will I edit the story of me in 2026? Per usual, I have so many ideas. And, a little more time than I’ve had in the recent two years — so we’ll see!
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