Well, it's that time again! Time for a fresh start, a clean slate, a new page on the calendar! I pray that all of you who read my blog enjoyed your New Year's Eve celebrations whether they were big or small, and that you are looking forward to moving into 2009 with excitement, anticipation and purpose!
I have told many of my friends that 2008 will go down for me, personally, as a study in contrasts. Not only do I feel that God blessed me beyond what I could ever hope to deserve, but He also placed an equal number of challenges in my path. Sort of a best of times/worst of times scenario. There were times when I almost felt some invisible force bowing my head at the enormity of the goodness of God's grace and mercy and love, and other times that I felt like a figure in a boxing ring, and I'd just been tko'd and was down for the count.
The tangible circumstances of my life aren't apt to change in this new year: I have every confidence that 2009 will still find me dealing with hormonal pre-teens and another kid getting ready to start (home)school; unless we find a magic bulb there will be no money growing on the trees in our backyard; and unless President-elect Obama passes a measure to add several hours in the day, I will still be burning the candle at both ends much of the time. So why do I feel so optimistic?
Well, for one, I fall prey easily to the notion of the "clean slate." Like so many others, there is great symbolism for me in the idea not just of a new day but of a new year, and the promise of great things to come. But more than that, I am taking to heart a challenge that Randy put to us last night as we gathered together as a church family for the last time in 2008. Rather than drawing up a list of resolutions that so often go unfulfilled, Randy challenged us to write a list of things we want to leave behind in 2008, so as not to sully up this bright, fresh new year full of hope and promise. Then he encouraged us to pray over that list and then, in a really symbolic act, he urged us to burn it or shred it or otherwise utterly decimate our list of habits, attitudes, destructive patterns, you name it, that we want to put behind us.
Does that excite you the way it excites me?? Truthfully, after a year that has brought personal fulfillment unlike any I've known before, I can say without hesitation that I am not sad to see 2008 go. Because I know that God is calling me to bigger and better things--and I don't mean another year of good health or a level of prosperity with which I am unfamiliar. No, He's calling me to be a bigger person with a better heart; to have a bigger heart with better love; to have bigger love with a better attitude. I know a more polished writer could make that sound more eloquent, but I am who I am and this is my heart. And my heart feels about ready to burst right now!
And now, if you'll excuse me, I have a fire to start. Blessings!!
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2 comments:
I loved loved loved reading that post. I've struggled with writer's block of sorts this last week in how to put into words how I feel about 2008 leaving and the promise and hope that comes with a new year. I love what Randy said to do, and I am going to head right now to my journal to do it! You guys are such a blessing! Love you and have a great new year!! I can't wait to see what's in store for YOU, not just your wordsy husband, hormonal preteens and school aged tyrants!! :)
This year we have had one enourmous stuggle after another. I am so glad 2008 is behind us and I love what Randy said to do and plan on doing it later tonight. We got a book out of the library a couple of weeks ago called "Not So Tall For Six." The family's moto in the book is "Brave and Smart and Big at Heart!" We are going to be trying to live that out in 2009. Here's to a great year!
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