(You can access the links to the posts in this articles by clicking on the titles.)

It is time for my annual work review, looking back on my writing accomplishments and thinking about how to live a rich life in the next twelve months—so that I can keep my writing interesting.

First, a look backward.  I wrote 42 Sunday Posts last year.  That means I was a “no show” for ten Sundays.  Here are my excuses:  I took a break for Easter Day (too tuckered out,) went on vacation to Florida (only gone for two Sundays-- but somehow managed to get out of writing for three,) left my readers stranded twice in the spring so I could visit my grandchildren, and went on a writing sabbatical for four weeks in early fall (fatigued from writing, needed a break, and busy traveling in the Maritime Provinces.)  

I had no major illnesses or injuries in 2022, so I had to think of other stuff to post in order to make you squeamish and embarrass you by sharing too much of my personal information.  I was a little sick in October though, so you got to read Best Century to Get Sick, and while I didn’t have much to say about myself in that post, I think I made some of you a little ill by writing about past diseases.  I did embarrass myself a little by telling you all the stupid things I did in Best and Worst of My Vacation.  You got to peek in both my closet and my garage in Must Go Places, Must Have Things.  I retired for the third time in 2022, and insisted on boring you with another article on the topic in Retirement Number Three.  I’m pretty sure you’re getting tired of me telling you again how I am going to retire.  And I reveal my most private and intimate secrets in My Secret for Losing Four Pounds.  

When I wasn’t embarrassing myself, I was putting my friends and relatives in the spotlight.  Glad to report, they are all still speaking to me, except for Doris Robinson, whom I wrote about in She Never Stopped Talking. It’s not that Doris is mad at me or anything, it’s just that this post was something I wrote to be read at her funeral. My mom is always in the spotlight around Mother’s Day, this year she showed up in Proverbs Woman vs. My Mom.  (My mom won, and as a consequence she still speaks to me.)  I also wrote about visiting my mom for my birthday in How to Have a Great Birthday.  She had invited me over for lunch, and then stood me up.  In hindsight, I guess she had a good excuse that day.  I’m careful about pushing my grandchildren into the public spotlight, but I had the rare privilege of having a one-on-one day with three-year-old Isobel last spring, and her parents let me write about it in A Day with Isobel. Our fourth grandchild was born in October, and I have written about the birth and future of each one.  This one is called Meeting Maeve.  And when Jie got moved from Sidell and Chrisman last June, I thought lots about being a preacher’s husband, which made me also reflect on both my mother and grandmother as preacher’s wives in Never Wanted to be a Preacher’s Wife.

Animals were featured in a couple posts.  Our 13-year relationship with Earl-the-Cat ended last spring, and it took me a couple months before I could write about him.  That article, Biography of Earl the Cat, included links to photos of him. They were the most “opened” links of any I have ever posted in one of my Sunday missives.  People love cat pictures I guess.  On the other side of life, Mindy got a new kitten (Luna) this fall, and she became the subject of a post, …And All Who Are in Authority, reflecting on the power of cats, making us wonder who owns who in those relationships.  

I did write a few “scholarly” articles, regaling you with all the knowledge I could pluck in one afternoon from the internet, plus any other factoids I’ve retained through the years.  One of the most popular posts in 2022 (based on comments back to me) was Driving in Florida.  I celebrated the Chinese New Year with Tigers Everywhere.  Each year I buy a new almanac and bother you with what I’ve discovered.  The 2022 almanac took up two of my Sunday posts, This News Just In, giving you a chance to quiz yourself on how much you know about the world, and Animal Races, Dwarves, and Bishops, a post that turned out to be just as disjointed and luring as the title indicates.  And when I flashed my eloquent writing style in Important Stuff the Fake News Won’t Tell You, many of you became convinced that I have too much time on my hands and need to un-retire, again.  But how could I not enjoy a whole afternoon trafficking in how much our presidents weigh?  

Politics and presidential history were both on my mind when I wrote Politics:  I Love Thee, I Love Thee Not just prior to the 2022 election, Surprise at the Millard Fillmore House after my visit there (along with running into a movie star in Millard's house,) and Down and Dirty with the Fourth of July, in which I both celebrate the holiday and raise my eyebrows at it.  

End of year holidays evoked My Irreverent, Sincere Thanksgiving Prayer, a musing about gift giving in All My Christmas Wisdom in Seven Paragraph, and Bethlehem at Night, a meditation on how to approach Christmas when life sucks.

A little church history appeared in two of my posts, It Keeps Rising from the Dead, on the story of the Glen Carbon-New Bethel Church, which I served between 1988 and 2001, and A Gaggle of Preachers, exploring John Wesley and the start of the annual conference system in the Methodist Church.  

A set of articles, High School Reunion—Part One and High School Reunion—Part Two seemed popular with my readers, getting lots of response and garnering comments and reflections on people’s own experiences with high school reunions.  

I wrote a little about my current vocation—writing—in Writer’s Prayer of Confession, popular with my writing friends, and Somebody Has to Play God, about the board game I’ve developed, where you get to pretend you are a pastor. Even in such a small thing as a game, we need God.

The plurality of my posts this year came from my work at Geneseo Grace Church, as their pastor between January and June of 2022.  At least nine of my posts were inspired by my time with them.  Bible studies set me off on two topics, I Beg Your Pardon and How to Worry, as we talked about Jesus’ commands to forgive and to not be anxious.  The rural culture of my congregation in Geneseo stimulated a post on Country Mouse, City Mouse.  My first tractor "ride-along" since I was six years old evoked the post A Ride with Farmer Tom.  My confirmation class in Geneseo led me to remember another class from a decade earlier, The Time They Set My Church on Fire.  Little did I know when I wrote that post that another fire awaited me at Geneseo, which led to giving my side of the story in Chicken Kitchen Trouble.  A series of international dinners I cooked up in Geneseo is described in Chaos in the Kitchen.  I had a great time while I was at Grace Church, but wondered whether I would at first.  I explain why in Who Left the Excedrin on My Desk. And the joy of community I experienced at Grace church is touched on in my post, Haven’t Changed Much Since the Second Grade, as I remembered other “communities” that have been so valuable to me.

In the past, I used to let you know what I was reading.  But lately I only let you know what books I’ve completed AND written a review on.  In 2022, I read and reviewed 57 books.  You can see which books they were and also read my reviews by clicking here.  My goal in 2023 is to read and review 60 books, in addition to my other writing. 

As we begin a new year, I expect to write 40-45 new Sunday Posts, mostly because so many of you keep reading them, dropping me notes about them, and commenting on them when I see you in person.  I know that sometimes you only have time to glance at my weekly work.  But often enough, many of you read them carefully now and then... and even send me your own reflections in notes and emails. I like hearing back from you best of all.  The dialogue some of the posts stimulates is a delight to me. THANK YOU for receiving what I write, reading what you have time to read week by week, and encouraging me.  

I've been writing a Sunday post for over 30 years now. One of my 2023 resolutions is to put 88 of them into a book. It is slow going. The rewrites take about ten hours for each post.  What I send you on Sundays is only a first rough draft.  Much rewriting and editing is necessary to take it all to the next step, publishing. So, as I do that, thank you for being my first readers, and know that your suggestions are welcome as I enter the next stage with these posts.

Happy New Year’s--2023!