As I lay in bed last night, listening to the dogs go nuts over the fireworks and gun shots, I thought about the meaning of the day. New Year's Eve was always special to me as a kid because it was the one night we were allowed to stay up all night. When Mike and I were dating and first married, it took on the romantic aspect. After 19 years of marriage and 2 kids with birthdays the first week of January, I think I have officially turned into an old fuddy-duddy ( a phrase that Bethany thinks is the funniest ever!). I just don't get excited over the new year anymore.
Today, the first day of 2010 is no different than yesterday, the last day of 2009. It is only 24 hours later. I know that many see the new year as a time to reflect on the past, put the problems of the last year behind them, and make plans and goals for the coming year. There is nothing wrong with any of these things. In fact they are all necessary to our spiritual and emotional health. However, it seems to me that we should be doing all of this more frequently than once a year. The last year brought with it both some very difficult and trying times for us and some times of great blessing. Rather than wait for the end of the year to put the difficult times behind us and move on, we should do that as soon as the difficulties improve. We should thank God for the blessings during the blessings (or as soon as we realize that they were blessings for those hidden blessings), not wait until the end of the calendar year. As for plans and goals, we should always be evaluating and revising them as needed. Each new day brings the opportunity for change, if not in our circumstances, in our attitudes about them. We do not have to wait for the calendar year to end to make positive changes in our lives. ( I told you I was a fuddy-duddy about the new year. :) )
All that being said, I am looking forward to this coming year with hopeful anticipation. God is doing some great things with our church plant, Redeemed Point. We have been averaging 30-35 people attending, both in person and online, each Tuesday evening. Despite some technical difficulties, the message has been proclaimed and God's name has been praised! It amazes me how God blesses his work even when we are working on a budget of $0. If nothing else comes from the work, God has used it to reaffirm his call on Mike and renew Mike's sense of purpose. I have watched a slow but sure transformation from a broken man who doubted everything about himself and his life to a man whom God is healing and who sees his purpose again.
As we continue into this year, my prayer for us all is that we take each day to thank God for his blessings, put the rotten things in the garbage bin of our lives, and make sure that we are setting God-sized, God-inspired goals and plans.
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