
Ring Out, Wild Bells – and just like that time has marched on, brining with it a new year and leaving 2024 in it’s wake. For many years the church bells rang out the seasons. Schedules, celebrations, and holidays chimed out through the town, filling the hearts and homes of all who lived near. Bells that rang out with the echoes of centuries come and gone. Sharing the same admonition from generation to generation.
Although this is only something I have come to know through stories. I don’t live in Europe with centuries of history down the street, I don’t even live near colonial homes or cobblestone streets from the early American period. I live in Colorado where our oldest buildings are from the mid 1800’s and most of our historic buildings burned to the ground years ago because they were made of wood. I envy the quant town whose historic stones stand tall and whose church bells sing out loud to this day – the sound of ancient bells proclaiming out with the old and in with the new!
My ears are welcomed to the new year by blasts of rouge fireworks set off by teenagers on the hill near our home. Occasionally car horns and beefed up engines will join the song – and our neighbors car alarm for good measure (although that goes off year round!) If we’re lucky, we both may be roused from sleep just enough to whisper into the night “happy new year!” and send up a muffled prayer to keep the kids asleep throughout all the noise.
It is a bit less magical but no less authentic. I wager more of us these days fall into the later sounds of the seasons as many churches no longer have bells and many communities no longer center around churches. The church bells may no longer ring but the sentiment is still there – we still “ring in the season!” I wanted to share this poem with you. It is a section of Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s longer poem “In Memoriam.” And even without the bells echoing down the streets and off the hills of my home town, I can hear the ringing in my heart. And my heart too longs for rebirth, restoration, light, hope, truth, Christ!
Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light:
The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.Ring out the grief that saps the mind
For those that here we see no more;
Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind.Ring out a slowly dying cause,
And ancient forms of party strife;
Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws.Ring out the want, the care, the sin,
The faithless coldness of the times;
Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes
But ring the fuller minstrel in.Ring out false pride in place and blood,
The civic slander and the spite;
Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.Ring out old shapes of foul disease;
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.Ring in the valiant man and free,
The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the Christ that is to be.– Ring out, Wild Bells by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
If you want to hear this poem read aloud to wash over you with rhythmic rhyme, I highly encourage you to listen to Malcom Guite as he reads this poem and then also one of his own. I really enjoy Malcom Guite’s poetry and books. If you are interested in theology and poetry, you need to check him out!
And as we ring in the new year, this poem is my prayer. Every year, every season, every morning is an opportunity to move out of the darkness and into the light. For more of Christ and less of me. My goals (if you want to call them that) are pretty similar to those of years past (2024 + 2023 + more) but they carry with them a bit of a new flavor. I’m another year into marriage, parenting, homeschooling, and life. So a lot of these are refining and discovering new rhythms, habits, and patterns for myself and my family.
Read 80 Books
Reading has been something I have prioritized the last couple years since quitting social media and it has honestly been so good for my soul! I read a mix of genres and it has just been a blast to enjoy stories, learn new things, and ignite a passion for reading aloud to my children! I also just read that the best thing (and statistically most important by far) you can do to raise kids who read is read books yourself! I think 80 books will be a doable goal without making reading feel like another thing on my to-do list (in 2024 I read 87 books and in 2023 I read 84) – I want to keep reading in the for fun zone!
Finish Reading the Bible
I am two years into reading the Bible and I will finish this year! I have a hard time keeping up with a Bible in a Year plan as I mix in a bunch of other Bible Studies and devotionals through the year. Normally I just do the latter, but I have been convinced that in addition to studying sections of the Bible in depth, we need to be reading the whole story. Once I finish reading my Bible all the way though, I will pick a new Bible and translation to start over!
I recently heard a story of a gentleman who would read a Bible all the way though – marking it up and making notes, adding dates – and then get a new one once he finished. He then had enough Bibles at the end of his life to leave one to all his children/grandchildren/ great-grandchildren in his will – what a legacy and a gift! I think I want to start doing this and collect my read & used Bibles!
Create Family Yearbooks
Did you know I make family yearbooks? My blog posts on them are actually the MOST popular posts on my blog of all time! People are always finding these yearbook posts through Pinterest and Google searches! Anyways, I do them but I am pretty behind – ooops! I need to create our 2024 yearbook (obviously) but also 2021 and 2023! I started making them in 2016 so I can go back in time from that point if I am feeling crazy but clearly I have other priorities before that kind of time extravagancy!
Use the Dwell App
My friend gave me a year of Dwell as a gift this year and I want to make sure to use it! I am most intrigued by the kid content and want to find a way to do that in the car with the kiddos. Also, I found an Anglican Prayer book devotional that reads the prayers/ scriptures of the day. I have always wanted to follow this but it is hard to stay on top of it. This way I just have them read aloud as I make and drink my coffee in the morning. It is simply wonderful! Any playlists/ sections you recommend on Dwell?
Homeschool Well
Whew. Every year this is a new adventure! I loved how we homeschooled last year but as Hilde entered 1st grade, we were all needing a bit more structure. We added The Good and the Beautiful Math & Handwriting to go with our curriculum. That worked well for the fall, but I realized it was much easier to get Math / Handwriting done and much harder to do anything else. So I made a pivot in the middle of our 1st grade and added the Language Arts Curriculum and a Science kit. The way this curriculum is set up, it is much easier to check things off & get what is needed for school done. The best part is no prep work as prep work has been my downfall!
While we were switching things up, I ordered Millie’s Kindergarten curriculum (the whole set!) because she has been BEGGING to start Kindergarten now that she is 5! And I FINALLY decided to schedule our homeschool in the morning so that we can get things done and enjoy the rest of the day! I am very excited to see how things go this next semester/ year!
Be financially Wise
Budget, budget, budget! We have essentially been living on one income for the last several years but with homeschooling and inflation (my grocery bill these days!!), it is very important for us to be on top of our budget. We are using You Need a Budget and it is helping us name every dollar, stay in budget on categories (like groceries and eating out), set money aside for giving, as well as save up for things like birthdays, Christmas, and vacation!
As the spender of our finances, I really want to focus on being a good steward of what the Lord has given us trusting the Lord to be our daily provider. I want to be wise with our spending and live with open hands. It’s always a balance but I am realizing that I can do without a lot of things I used to think were a necessity so that we have time and space for what does really matter.
Get more Involved at Church
We have been going to our church for about 7 years and it has been amazing for us! Nearly the entire time we have been pregnant or had babies which is hard to get plugged in. Now that Thorin is 2, we have some breathing room. I know not everything will be able to be a yes for me but I want to live with open hands (like our budget) to say yes to the right things!
A Blog Direction
And last and also probably least, I want to hold this space with open hands as I figure out just what the heck this blog is supposed to be. I celebrate my 15th anniversary of my blog this summer on June 3rd! It is hard to believe that I have been creating content in this space for that long! There is so much history here, it is honestly incredible, and I have gone through a wide variety of themes, directions, and motivations through the years. The biggest change probably being when I chose to leave the world of social media and sponsorships in 2022 after working for years to get to that point. It has been 3 years now since then and I wonder what this space should be now. No answers here yet but thinking more on that – what will I share here and what will I not?
Expectantly looking to the new year – ring out wild bells!