As I say “Good-bye” to 2012, I think of the words of Paul in Philippians:
Forgetting what lies behind, and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of GOD in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13b-14
This year has been a weird year in many ways. I felt it has been a transition year only the transition hasn’t been made! I did a lot of purging early in the year. There is still much more that needs to be done. We plan to get our house on the market this year, but the timing on when it will sell or even whether it will happen…at a decent price is all up to the Master Designer of our lives. I would love to know what is ahead for the next couple of years…at least I think I would.
For now, this coming year will contain much of what the past few years have. We hope it will also have a move that will put us closer to some grandchildren. Since we have 7 grandchildren, it would be fun to be more a part of the daily lives of some of them. Our plans, at this time, are to move closer to the US grands that have no grandparents nearby.
When I look back over this year, in general, I can see FAIL, FAIL over many areas. But that tends to be my default way of thinking.
- When I look at specifics, I can see some areas that were very encouraging. I was in a small prayer group that was extremely encouraging. We knew each other well enough that we didn’t have to play “pretend”. It will be more of a challenge to get together this year, but we’re going to try again.
- We saw some very encouraging long term prayer requests answered for friends. It was encouraging to see GOD as He worked to answer the prayer, but sad to see some of the ways He moved to answer it.
- I saw encouraging growth as I was able to read the Bible in 90 days + (106 days to be exact!) It has had a profound effect on me and I look forward to doing it again before long. One insight was seeing both GOD’s justice. jealousy and anger AND his mercy, love and grace working together in His dealings with mankind in general and His people specifically. It wasn’t new information, but it was interesting to read all the events in this context and learn more about who GOD is!
- I still see the struggle that goes on as I deal with my natural default toward the negative and gloomy; the glass 1/2 empty and the missing bit, rather than seeing all the positive things that are happening; the glass 1/2 full; the 3/4 of life that is going well. I used to be more “up”. Energy, time, and a variety of factors seem to be encouraging that down side. Silly me, I thought I had outgrown that gloomy side. Unfortunately, it is very much alive and kicking! I need to build up rather than tear down…whether I talk to others or not, I realize I need to not let my mind go to the dark and negative places. It only leads to gloom and sometimes despair. That is something that I will need to continue to work on in 2013…by the grace of GOD.
I will be writing more about some of the plans I have for the blog in the New Year…they coincide with some of my plans for personal growth. I think you’ll like them. They aren’t complex. They are what I’m doing. You can join me if you’d like. In fact, I’d love it!
So, for the New Year that is ahead, nice, clean, crisp, fresh as a new snowfall….join me as we dare to trust GOD for growth. It will take courage. We will need all the resources He has given us, which are abundant, but the end result will be CHANGE! He is changing us to be more like Him…on His agenda, not our small one.
Today, we attended church at our daughter and son-in-law’s church. I was very encouraged by the pastor’s sermon! His presentation was WAY more encouraging and hopeful than what I’m presenting now. I’ll tell you more about it soon.
As you run the race this year,
Do you have things you need to forget about he past?
Do you have things you need to press toward and grow into?
Trust GOD for the grace to do both!
