I am big on looking back...and then looking forward at the end of the year. I know this is way over done right now, but I find it helpful since I usually am to "stuck in the moment" to really understand what I am experiencing when I experience it. So, today's episode is a little personal as I look at the ways I have changed and grown and struggled this past year.  I hope you find it helpful! With the help of a great book, Fire and Light by Fr. Jacques Philippe, I have been reflecting a lot on why this year of spiritual growth has been also so hard and even a little painful. I fell like this year, more than any other, I have been forced to confront some hard truths about myself. I know I have taken a few steps in my spiritual life, but I also feel like I have seen, more clearly then ever, just how long the spiritual path is, and how far I have to go.  I was finally able to make sense of all of this with Fr. Jacques Philippe's book. He wrote an incredible section on the need for spiritual poverty. I read directly from the book, and when I read that something clicked.  Yes, the closer you get to God the more you see your failing...and although I KNEW that, actually living it has been harder than I thought it would be!! I also have been reflecting on what exactly it means to be hopeful and why hope, rightly understood, is so tightly linked to humility.  Lived through lots of humility this year! Thanks for letting me share from the heart this week and I hope you are doing some similar self-searching! Links mentioned in this episode: Learn how to love your husband just a little bit better with this 7 day challenge for Catholic Wives Head over to Youtube and check out my new channel. And while there, don't for get to subscribe!! And, are you listening to the DAILY PODCAST FOR CATHOLIC KIDS? Over 3,000 families and classrooms tune into the daily 5 minute podcast. Join us!! Have a blessed final couple days of Advent! Nancy