Hi there, it's Emily and I'm here, but I'm not really here, as this isn't a typical

episode, but more of a programming note in three parts. An announcement, a request, and

a blessing. First, an announcement to say, I'm taking a wee bit of a break for the first

half of January, so if you don't see the next right thing drop in your podcast feed,

or you're not, you're not missing a thing. I'm definitely not going anywhere, but we have

our two college freshman home for a few more weeks, so our winner break is a bit extended this

year. So for now, I just want to honor this new family rhythm. We'll see how it goes. Second,

a request. Though we don't have a new episode for a couple of weeks, and I'm taking a break from

the podcast, we're still working behind the scenes, taking some intentional time to regroup, plan,

position ourselves for the new year, including preparing to hire some new team members for the EPF

team. Did you know I refer to myself as EPF and all of my work? I probably should come up with

something more official than that. But anyway, in light of all of that, would you click the link

in the show notes to take our listener survey? You'll have the option to enter to win a $250 gift

card to bookshop.org when you enter, so you can choose some great books you didn't get for Christmas

and support local bookstores in the process. But all of this is just so that we can start our year

off in the right direction and get some answers and information from you, the listener, to make

this year the best it can be here on the next right thing. Well, finally, a blessing.

Since we won't meet here for just a couple of weeks, I want to take this time to say to you

happy new year. My prayer the first week of every year is for a gentle entry. Sometimes I get one

and sometimes I don't, but I pray it anyway. May we all enter this new year gently

with ourselves and with each other as we continue to do our next right thing in love. Amen.