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Hello everyone!

I'm speaking out again! It's been exactly two months since my last entry. It's been two very eventful months for me, which have shaken things up in my life. Now I'm sitting here at my laptop at the end of 2021 and reflecting on the past year. 

Looking back, the year went completely differently than planned. At the beginning of the year, I knew that no matter what happened, I would go to Colombia for two months. This plan came to nothing because of the massive uprisings there. Instead, I was able to experience my first multi-day sailing trip on the Roald Amundsen, which was a gigantic and memorable experience for me! 

But when I look back on this vacation now, which was less than six months ago, it feels like an experience from another world. Our world has changed massively in the last two years. The coronavirus pandemic is now entering its third year. Nobody could have imagined at the beginning what a massive impact such a small virus would have on us all. (Here in the picture, by the way, crocheted by a very talented woman: our corona family).

The newn the coronavirus measures of the last two months, I had to make a decision about how I wanted to deal with the political situation. I would never have thought it possible that our society could become so divided over such an issue. 

Just three weeks ago, I had a relatively clear idea of what 2022 would look like for me. But today I'm standing here and have no idea where I'll be in three months' time, both professionally and personally.
The events of the last few weeks and all the measures surrounding the coronavirus situation have taken a huge amount of energy out of me. I only had the strength left to continue functioning.
I tried to draw or paint, but I always had to give up after a few minutes. All my ideas and motivation had disappeared without a trace.  

This makes the two weeks of Christmas vacation that I am currently enjoying all the more necessary. It took me almost a whole week to get a bit of motivation for any kind of activity again. 

Yesterday I visited one of my best friends. She gave me a set of high-quality acrylic paints for Christmas. The time and the conversations with her as well as the gift somehow loosened a knot in me. All of a sudden, ideas for painting motifs popped into my head and I felt like picking up a paintbrush again! 

I deliberately looked for a motif that was appropriate to my mood. That's how I came across the subject of today's picture on the Internet. It's fall and it's raining. A woman is walking alone through a park in the rain. I only used black and white to paint the picture. Only the umbrella and the scarf were red as a contrast to the gray.

The surroundings of the picture are dull and gray. That suits my depressed mood. The main colors are black and white. In our current political situation, I have the feeling that there are also only these two colors: either lateral thinkers or corona believers, anti-vaccinationists or pro-vaccinationists, right-wing extremists or politically correct. Where have all the shades of gray and all the other colors in their diversity gone? 

The viewer cannot see where the path in the picture is leading. So I can't currently see where my path will take me next year. It feels as if I have to walk the path alone. A path where I don't know where it will end.  

Nevertheless, the picture is not quite so sad. The red umbrella and the scarf provide a color contrast and bring the picture to life. The scarf and umbrella protect the woman from the cold and wet. They bring warmth and security to a cold, bleak landscape. In the same way, the street lamps provide light and show the walker the right way.  

Although the current situation could be better and the future is uncertain, there are still things that make the path easier and brighten up life. Family and friendships, for example, are such things. Or faith in a God who has an overview of the whole situation and sees much more than I do. He can guide us safely into this uncertain future. He wants to be a shield, protection and light on our path through life.  

As I am writing these lines, it occurs to me Psalm 91 comes to mind, which I find very appropriate for our global situation. In this song from the Bible, God's protection is promised to faithful and obedient Christians. This does not mean that he will be spared from all suffering, but that God will keep the upper hand and only allow trials that we can endure: 

 Whoever sits under the shelter of the Most High and remains under the shadow of the Almighty says to the LORD: / My confidence and my fortress, my God, in whom I hope. For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the destructive plague. He will cover you with his wings, / and you will have refuge under his wings. His truth is your shield and buckler, so that you will not be afraid of the terror of the night, of the arrow that flies by day, of the plague that creeps in the darkness, of the pestilence that brings destruction at noon. Though a thousand fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand, yet it shall not befall thee. Yes, you will see it with your own eyes and see how the wicked are rewarded. For the LORD is your confidence; the Most High is your refuge. No evil will befall you, and no plague will come near your house. For he has commanded his angels to guard you in all your ways, to bear you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.  

I don't know where 2022 will take me, but I trust the one who knows. There have already been darker days in my life, but my trust in my God has never been disappointed. Therefore, I have no choice but to put the old year back into those almighty hands and trustingly take the new year from that same loving and tender hand.  

In the end, the thought remains that this life here for a Christian is just a pilgrimage to the eternal home. Life's journey may often be full of hardships and disappointments, but in the end a new heaven and a new earth await him.  

Despite all this, life also offers many beautiful moments and experiences. We need to capture them and keep them in our hearts. I am confident that there will be many such days for all of us in the new year! 

With this in mind, I wish you, dear reader, a peaceful end to the year and a blessed 2022!