Moments of LIGHT in 2018

My top 9 Instagram posts from 2018

Okay, I'm back to reflect a bit on 2018. IT. WAS. A. YEAR. Am I right?! If you haven't already watched my 2018 1 Second Every Day video, you can find it here. As I said in that post, it continues to be my favorite project, but I know it's hard to fully catch everything when you watch it "as an outsider".

I decided to write this post to give you a little more information on what 2018 looked like for me, but also to personally reflect back on the moments of LIGHT that I found along the way. As you may remember, I chose the word "light" as my word of the year so it felt important for me to think about what that looked like in 2018...

Moments of LIGHT in January: 

• Hearing the smiles and giggles from the kiddos in the village
• Drinking coffee, of course
• Bonding with a super cool gal
• Discovering beautiful doors
• Celebrating Maveric's 1st birthday from afar

Moments of LIGHT in February: 

• Being celebrated on my 30th birthday
• Celebrating three lovely ladies on their birthdays
• Drinking more coffee, reading and journaling
• Discovering yet another door
• Receiving super cute photos of my super cute nephew and niece

Moments of LIGHT in March:

• Reuniting with close friends
• Capturing a cute photo of Jimmy...the dog who lived in the citadel in Sighisoara
• Eating Chipotle
• Getting surprised by photos from Raegan's mini-photoshoot with her nesting doll dress 
• Visiting friends in St. Louis with other friends

Moments of LIGHT in April:

• Celebrating the beautiful marriage of a close friend
• Receiving a sweet photo from my It Takes Courage group
• Spending time with three of my besties
• Celebrating Easter with my family

Moments of LIGHT in May:

• Eating ice cream at the good ole Union Dairy
• Celebrating my mom's birthday with Mexican food
• Taking neighborhood walks with the family
• Reading "You are Free" by Rebekah Lyons
• Stopping to smell the peonies
• Attending the Reaching Europe's Children conference in Hungary
• Capturing a door with my favorite door model
• Celebrating the local high school graduation in Sighisoara

Moments of LIGHT in June:

• Celebrating the "graduation" of It Takes Courage
• Posing for a photo with my Romanian Studies Program summer student
• Stopping to smell (and pick) the wildflowers
• Reading Katie Davis' book, "Daring to Hope"
• Creating with kiddos
• Enjoying a visit from good friends
• Leading English Camp for the 4th year

Moments of LIGHT in July:

• Participating in a service project with It Takes Courage and ITC 2.0
• Spending time with some beautiful ladies
• Celebrating little kid birthdays
• Making cute crafts with the cutest kiddos in the village
• Finding out the gender of the new Barr baby
• Inviting a bunch of teenagers over to my house 
• Admiring Romania's beauty

Moments of LIGHT in August:

• Re-reading an incredible book
• Bringing my two worlds together by hanging out with an American bestie and a Romanian bestie
• Visiting Belgium with Erica (all four photos in the middle)
• Enjoying camp in the village with my favorite kiddos

Moments of LIGHT in September:

• Celebrating 25 years since Dorothy came to Romania with a vision to impact the community
• Attending Veritas' annual open house where Adela always displays her face painting talent
• Celebrating Adela's birthday
• Attending the Central Europe Field Conference in Albania
• Discovering some beauty at a nearby castle 
• Loving the cute little faces of the kiddos in the village

Moments of LIGHT in October:

• Meeting new teens in Sighisoara and helping them to build their character
• Starting a new year of It Takes Courage with our biggest group ever!
• Drinking more coffee
• Enjoying the annual Veritas staff retreat in the mountains
• Observing sibling love in the village
• Attending a week of training at the Nazarene Global Ministry Center in Kansas

Moments of LIGHT in November:

• Spending a few days at home to visit friends and family
• Visiting a cultural center in a nearby town in Romania
• Taking a cute pic with Adela
• Celebrating the birth of Holden James Barr!
• Taking the It Takes Courage teens to serve the kiddos in the village
• Attending the church's district assembly 
• Celebrating Thanksgiving with some other Americans in Sighisoara

Moments of LIGHT in December:

• Enjoying a mini "field trip" with the It Takes Courage 2.0
• Saying goodbye to my Romanian Studies Program fall student
• Celebrating a birthday of the sweetest little boy with one of the most amazing families (top middle photo)
• Being reminded to be the LIGHT at the children's Christmas program in the village (bottom middle photo)
• Flying home and seeing the beauty of Chicago from above
• Surprising Raegan on her SIXTH birthday
• Enjoying a last-minute visit from a close friend
• Spending time with baby Holden
• Celebrating Christmas with my family for the first time since 2014

So there you have it. 2018 was truly a year full of light. I was constantly amazed at how much light I found simply because I was looking for it. Now, of course there were dark moments as well, but finding the light had become such a habit that I could more easily get myself out of the dark than before. Even though we're almost one month into 2019, I'm still continuing to see the light...and I think the word "light" will not just be a 2018 thing, but more like a lifetime thing. 

I'll leave you with this super cute photo of Raegan and Maveric enjoying the last few moments of 2018. 

One Second Everyday in 2018

I have to admit that towards the end of 2018 I was kind of wishing the days away just so I could finally watch my 2018 1 Second Everyday video! This "project" continues to be my favorite way to document, not just life in Romania, but life in general. I've always loved taking photos and documenting life through scrapbooks, photo books and art journals, but this takes it up a notch and I continue to love it.

I also wanted to include a brief summary of the year...and to pull out a few special moments in 2018. However, you'll have to wait a little longer for that one. I'm planning to write a blog post about "light", my word for 2018, and how that manifested itself throughout the year. So you'll see that soon.

So for now, enjoy a look back at 2018 with my one second videos :)