New Year Reflections
January 1, 2012
One of the things I love about News Years Day is that it encourages us to do two things: To reflect upon the past year and to refocus for the coming year. Both of those are so critically important things to do and yet we are rarely intentional about it…except on New Years Day. While we may ignore it, there is I believe within us a prompting–a longing– to stop and look both of those directions.
For me, I took some time yesterday to reflect upon the past year. It has been a year filled with loss, with change, with blessing and with challenges. I thought about my mom and how significant a person she was in my life and how much I miss her. I thought about some of the other relationship transitions that have occurred this past year–some exceedingly painful.
I thought about how in my lowest of lows, God was opening my heart to experience Him more deeply–in the midst of my weakness. Even though this is a huge life theme for me, I still need to be reminded of it frequently. This past year was one of those seasons where God reminded me of His desire for me to live out of a place of absolute rest in His love. Oh, how I wish I would fully learn that lesson!
My daughter, Erin, started college–which was so much harder than I anticipated. I had heard parents talk about the tears and sadness they felt as they drove away from the dorm after moving their child in, but no one warned me about the emptiness in the house that you experience for weeks and weeks after that.
My son, Joel, became an Eagle scout–and I was so proud of his discipline and hard work in reaching that milestone.
My son Caleb had his first worship leading experience–doing guitar and vocal. How fun it was to be led into God’s presence by my 14 year old son.
My ten year old son, Joshua, and I had a relational breakthrough a few months ago. Up to that point, our relationship had at times been strained–some weird ‘oil and water’ chemistry between us. But God did something in my heart and our relationship has completely changed for the better.
Those are just a few of my reflections on this past year. Lots to be thankful for. God is so faithful, even…and perhaps especially…in times of difficulty and challenge. I’m thankful for His presence in my life and am excited to move forward into the coming year with a deepening awareness of my need and His incredible sufficiency.
Happy New Year!
