It’s official. We’ve entered the world of orthodontics. Scott, our nine-year-old, got a plate this week, which is set to make a miracle of his mouth. It feels simultaneously loss-of-innocence and rite-of-passage and I was slightly sad because, gosh. A kid with braces. I’m a *proper grownup*.

Then the other night at bedtime I said to him, ‘Aren’t you going to read?’

He said, ‘Not tonight. Will you just lie and dream with me?’

I quickly scooped up bits of my melted heart from the floor, then lay next to him under his nautical-themed duvet and for twenty minutes he talked about his future.

The thought God has already dropped into my heart for next year is –

space on the plate.

(The plate onto which I dish up my life.) (Not the plate that straightens teeth.)

But I thought about Scott’s plate. It feels restrictive to have wire and plastic clipped onto one’s teeth for months – yet it’s totally necessary, to create space.

Space in life doesn’t just happen either but needs the metal retainers of intentional, strategic, possibly uncomfortable YESes and NOs.

But the reward is that somewhere somehow amidst the duties and to-dos and swirling endings or beginnings of another frenetic year, we make space to dream.

Too much on the (dinner) plate and the gravy runs over the salad, which is gross, know what I mean? So next year, God willing, will bring space enough for more words for more books. And I’ll be speaking, as and when. And in the interests of keeping the lettuce crisp and the gravy hot, I might only blog here every second week. Let’s see.

It’s almost Thanksgiving, and I want to say thank-you-times-a-million for sharing this space with me. I’m unspeakably grateful and humbled that some of you have been reading this blog, week in and week out, for the past eleven and a half years. According to the internet gods, my following makes me a mere micro influencer. But if I had the cash of a macro or mega influencer? I’d buy you all tickets to Mauritius. You’ve changed my life. 

So this is likely my last blog post for 2019, but –

Please hang out with me on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter to celebrate 25 days of Advent, starting December 1^st. The King is coming.

Can’t wait to see you back here on the far side of the celebrations. 2020 vision really is a thing!

Soak up every moment of the wonder and possibility that Christmas brings. May you find yourself in a spacious place (on a spacious plate) this season, remembering that –

There is always hope.

. . .

Have an amazing weekend!

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