The End...The Beginning

I have been struggling with what to write for an end of the year/new year-type post. Fortunately I have had a few extra days to think about it since I've had to work this week. I took advantage of Randy being home and I worked three days this week. It is fun to go to work because it's something different and a bit of a break. (I get to speak with adults all day long! They don't always act like adults, but it's the holidays, I am giving them a break!) But I don't like being gone so long that I don't even know what clothes the boys wore during the day. I miss meals with my family. It gives me some perspective for what Randy experiences every week. And I think he gets some idea of how my days can get so crazy so fast! There is something to be said for switching roles occasionally.

So what to say about 2008? Would you laugh at me or think I am crazy if I said that 2008 was the best year ever? In some ways I think it was. We welcomed another sweet little boy and having him made me love all my boys (including Randy!) so much more. Our family is growing stronger and better with age. God is teaching us. I learned more in 2008 than in several previous years and I am looking forward to what is coming in 2009. I don't want this growth and maturing to stop. There are new goals, new challenges, but more than that, it's new ways to internalize and embrace God's eternal promises. It is a reassuring comfort knowing that while people change, God never does. His strength, his purposes, and his promises are as true as they were 2,000 years ago. That astounds me! All I know on earth is change. The seasons change, jobs change, people change, I change. But my rock and my foundation never change. Sometimes it's difficult to get me head around something so big. But God says it's true and I know I can believe what God says. I have experienced it. I have felt it. I think I go through different steps to learn something. I need both heart and head to believe something. I have done lots of head and heart learning this year.

That's what makes it such a great year. When I feel like I am a different person than the one who began the year (for the better!) it is a great year. I don't need more stuff, or more earthly security, or even perfect health. If God's work is being done in me that is all that matters. Whatever comes in 2009 will not all be happy and pleasant. And it won't be easy, but it will be God's plan, and that makes it a good year already.