A Day in the Life… 2026

Every year on January 18th I take one picture every hour from the moment I wake up until I go to bed that night. I end up taking pictures of the ordinary – supper prep, school drop off, a cup of coffee, my computer screen.

These ordinary pictures are actually quite extraordinary. They are my everyday. They are my here and my now. They are a day in my life.

For 16 years now, I’ve given myself an amazing gift to be able to look back at a typical day from the past years and see the changes from year to year. The gift of being able to see the extraordinary in my everyday routine because the truth is simple: today’s routine will not be the same for long. My children will grow. My jobs will change. These routines will not remain.

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A Day in the Life of Rebekah – January 18, 2026

9:00 AM – Slow mornings are one of my most favorite things, and I am taking advantage of being able to have a slow morning on this Sunday. I love reading in bed before I get up, and my kindle is my favorite way to read. My case is getting worn, but I can’t handle getting rid of the stickers.

10:00 AM – We got some snow this morning, and I popped outside to check with Nate about if we should go to church. He was shoveling, and we decided to stay home.

11:00 AM – We have gathered on the couch to watch church online. The last time my “a day in the life” project landed on a Sunday was 2015. I’m disappointed this won’t by a typical Sunday, but like I said, I love a slow morning.

12:00 PM – Lunch is leftover Pakistani Kima. This is a family favorite recipe that I make often. It is a simple ground beef curry with potatoes and peas.

Isaac and I made plans for his birthday next week while we ate. January birthdays are hard, and I almost always start planning late. This year he asked to keep our celebrating small with just our little family. It is an incredibly sweet request, and I teared up thinking about how in just a few years Grace will be at college on his birthday.

1:00 PM – Dirty mirror. No makeup. Popping in the shower with day 5 hair. (No, I didn’t wash it.)

2:00 PM – The boys headed out to play in the snow with the neighbor boy. Grace spent the night at a friend’s house, and she is still there.

3:00 PM – The boys are back inside warming up. And here is a look at our new living room furniture! We had been looking forward to redecorating our downstairs for a very long time. It took a lot of patience as we focused on repairs first (plywood ceiling – iykyk). I hired a designer to help us pick out everything, and that was the best decision I could have made. I am so happy with the results.

4:00 PM – Grace is home and we gathered to watch Traitors together. It is one of the shows we watch together as a family every year.

5:00 PM –  I really enjoy listening to audiobooks while working on puzzles. Today I started this puzzle my in-laws gave me for my birthday and the book Field Notes For The Wilderness by Sarah Bessey.

6:00 PM – Ever since our new furniture came, everyone has been hanging out in the living room even more than before.

7:00 PM – This is one of my favorite spots in the house. I found this buffet at the thrift store a couple months ago. The plant was a Christmas gift from my niece last year. The candles were a gift from this year’s Favorite Things Party. The nativity was a wedding gift that I’ve left up a little longer than usual this year.

8:00 PM – Well… things took a turn tonight. Our neighbors knocked on our door in a panic telling us to call 911 because their house was on fire.

9:00 PM – We had their dog while they dealt with the fire department.

There is so much more I could say about this night, but it really isn’t my story to tell. It was frantic, scary, stressful, but ultimately okay. They have some damage to their home, but it could have been so much worse.

Honestly, I’m still processing.

10:00 PM – We are all on the couch watching another episode of Traitors, trying to decompress. I don’t even know what to say.

Reflecting Back on my 2026 Day

Because I always do this project on January 18th, the day of the week changes from year to year. In 16 years of doing this project, this is only the 2nd time that it has fallen on a Sunday. The last time it was on a Sunday was in 2015. So much has changed since that Sunday, including our church.

Leaving the church we called home for 15 years is one of the hardest things we’ve done. I’ve talked about it online before (or at least hinted at it), but it has never been mentioned in this A Day in the Life series and it would feel wrong not to acknowledge it. So while I don’t want to rehash all of that, this is me acknowledging that our Sundays look different now.

Obviously, the house fire in our neighborhood was the most significant part of our day, and I continued to process it for many days after. The update from our neighbors is that the fire department told them they were lucky they got out when they did because the fire was just minutes away from becoming much, much worse. Sadly, they won’t be back in their home for probably a year.

Our country feels very divided and angry these days. It has felt this way for far too long now. Something about rushing to the aid of our neighbors stripped away all of the noise and brought us back to the core of what it means to be in community with others and love our neighbors.

I was reminded of the bible verses Matthew 25:35-36.

I am incredibly thankful that we were home to help our neighbors during their vulnerable time of need. It is what Jesus would have done, and while the world is yelling at each other about the right and wrong ways to live – living like Jesus always feels like the right choice.

Other Noteworthy Observations:

• Grace got her braces off, and Noah is just about to get his put on.
• It is fitting that snow made an appearance, because this has ended up being one of the snowiest winters we have had in a very long time.
• Noah is officially taller than me.
• I expected that my biggest reflection on our day was going to be the freshly re-decorated living room. It was a long time coming, and a big change we are all excited about. However, the fire was the focus of the day.

This was January 18, 2026. I look forward to seeing what changes come next year.

Thank you for following along on my 16th annual “A Day in the Life” project.

Take a peek back in time!

• A Day in the Life of… 2007
• A Day in the Life of… 2011
• A Day in the Life of… 2012
• A Day in the Life of… 2013
• A Day in the Life of… 2014
• A Day in the Life of… 2015
• A Day in the Life of… 2016
• A Day in the Life of… 2017
• A Day in the Life of… 2018
• A Day in the Life of… 2019
• A Day in the Life of… 2020
• A Day in the Life of… 2021
• A Day in the Life of… 2022
• A Day in the Life of… 2023
• A Day in the Life of… 2024
• A Day in the Life of… 2025

Thank you for sharing a day in my life!

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