December 2012: iPhone Photos and It’s Worth Fighting For!
“It’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were. And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end… because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing… this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come, and when the sun shines it’ll shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you, that meant something even if you were too small to understand why. But I think Mr. Frodo, I do understand, I know now folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. They kept going because they were holding on to something.
Frodo: What are we holding onto, Sam?
Sam: That there’s some good in the world, Mr. Frodo, and it’s worth fighting for..” ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers
We watched the Hobbit on Christmas day and felt the urge to rewatch all of the LOTR series afterward. Kevin got some time off towards the end of the year and it was just perfect for us to sit on the couch and watch them one or two hours at a time in the midst of daily errands and a few other meetings. The movies got us thinking. A lot. We talked about the happenings, dialogues, metaphors and what-ifs of the scenes. In the end, relating them to our life in 2012.
The above quote was close to the ending of the second movie and stayed with me over the new year. I thought about life in 2012. We were not in war physically and sure, our choices and circumstances were lighter than most people’s. We are blessed to live and work in Canada. But 2012 is indeed the hardest year for both of us. The year that we learned an opportunity opened up in another province in January. And that it was up to us to pack our belongings and start a new life where we don’t know anyone in the city. We then prayed and traveled in the second month. When we got back to Vancouver in March, we had 30 days to pack everything that Kevin needed for the new life and he moved to Toronto on the 31st. From April to July, we skyped every night and went through the longest period of long distance in our relationship. On top of it, I had to close and sell almost everything we owned in the last 8-10 years in Vancouver. It was hard but we pushed through. Before Kevin left in March, we promised each other that when things started failing or not working out, we would call it off and it would only be a summer of adventure for him in Toronto. Nothing failed but a couple things surely didn’t work out. New doors kept opening up. The challenges were higher each time but we pushed through and I made it to this province at the end of July. The struggles didn’t end there but we were so glad to be with each other again. We had the chances to say those were too much for us and decided to move back to Vancouver. But we didn’t. We knew each and every one of these is just a passing thing. Even though some of them were dark and we had to step forward with faith. And with faith, we did.
We don’t know what 2013 holds for us but we know we are not doing it any different. Every day, we will fight for what we stand for and that got us started in this journey. Every day, the sun will shine out the clearer. We are fully aware that we won’t understand most things but that is okay as long as we put our foot in front of the other each day. It’s okay because we are too small to understand why. It’s okay because what we are facing now is just a small part of the bigger picture. We will again have a lot of chances of turning back, but we will remind ourselves that we want to be able to look back at the end of the year and say : only we didn’t. We still believe there’s some good in the world and it’s worth fighting for. We believe marriages are built to last and we are there to document the beginning of them. It’s worth fighting for. We still believe that our lives are not meant to be lived for ourselves and that there will always be enough to be shared and go around. It’s worth fighting for. We still believe that we are part of our current community because we are meant to be here to stretch and grow together. It’s worth fighting for. And afterall, we choose to see that life is a gift and it’s worth fighting for.
What is your struggle? What is your concern for 2013? Your family? Your career? A relationship bridge that was burnt awhile ago and you wish to restore? We won’t say that it will be easy but we know it’s worth fighting for. If this post compels you, feel free to leave a comment below and/or send us an email at hello{at}helloinspira.com. Sometimes, it’s easier to share the burden and know that someone else is there to assure you just like Sam said in the movie: I can’t carry it for you but I can carry you. Even if you read this post way after January 2013, we still care and would like to carry you through prayers and words of encouragement.
Here is a glimpse of December 2012 for us. Lots of laughter, great companions, great gifts, endearing cards, mileage to places we haven’t been, beautiful sessions, sun (ohhh how I not miss Vancouver’s rain) and snow. I thought it was impossible to love Toronto more, but I was wrong.
iPhone photo series of 2012:
July 2012 – the move | August 2012 | September 2012 | October 2012 | November 2012
Jenn and Kevin
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