Thankful for 2008...

I think the last two or three years in a row I've spent New Years Eve at home and fallen asleep before midnight (it's a rare occasion that I stay up that late anyway). Last night was no exception. After a relaxing evening of dinner and cards with the Stefanos, I headed home and layed on my couch and just thought about the last year. After 15 or 20 minutes of pondering, I fell asleep and eventually moved to my bed at 12:30.

This morning as I woke up and made breakfast, I've just been taking an account of the last year and what it means and how I wished some parts of it were different and how I'm hoping next year will be better in some ways. And then I had the brilliant idea to ask God his thoughts about the last year and next year and he said simply, "Forget the past. Let go of the good and bad alike. The good in the past will never be as good as the future."

And then I realized that so often I try to superanalyze every part of my life, at least what I've experienced so far. I don't think so much about the future (or the present) and all the hopes therein because I'm caught up trying to figure out what happened yesterday! What a waste of time!

So, I say all this to say that I really am thankful for 2008. It was truly a year of new beginnings. Though I've been living in Norfolk for a year and a half, I find that it's still new to me in some ways and I'm still adjusting. The growing process of settling in and building community and connecting with new people has been good in the challenging why-is-this-so-difficult, kind of way. Things at work have stayed mostly the same and I find it's still a blessing everyday to have the job that I do.

Two of the "new" experiences of 2008 that I really valued were:

1. Getting back into ceramics again. As you know, I studied ceramics in college and for a couple years after graduation, I was somewhat befuddled as to what to do with it. I just didn't have a lot of direction or creative juices flowing, so I took a break for a while. In January of last year I started taking classes again at a local studio and have really enjoyed it. I find that one of my favorite things in life is to work my body really hard doing something I love until I'm exhausted enough to collapse. Strange isn't it? If bookkeeping were a physically intensive job, I would probably love it even more. When I go to the studio on a Saturday and have several free hours just to hands create whatever my mind can envision, I feel so satisfied. There's just a small part of my heart that gets really fulfilled and bubbles up with excitement. I'm really thankful that God opened up that part of me again.

2. Gaining an awareness of cross-cultural missions. I took a class with our church's school of missions called Worldwide Perspectives. The goal was to give students who have any interest in missions a quick (3 month) study of the biblical foundation for missions, the history, and what is currently happening in the world. You want to talk about exciting - this class was just over the top. I suppose not everyone would get as much out of it as I did, but if you have any kind of interest in international things combined with an interest in what God's heart is for the world, it's perfect. I felt every week like I was stepping out of my small world that revolves mainly around me to see how big God is and how much he desires people to know him. It's so simple. Sigh...

The school of missions has a second and third phase in the spring and summer which culminate with a 10 week stint in another country living the life of a cross-cultural missionary. As exciting as that sounds, I decided not to continue with the next two phases (at least for right now). However, I am hoping to go on a short-term trip this year. Our church hosts maybe 12 trips each year all over the world and I would just love to be a part of one this year.

I really am amazed at the extent of God's goodness in my life. I find that it's all around and seems to be only increasing. I hope you'll join me this year in forgetting the past and pressing forward to what lies ahead.





And, just for fun, I'll give you the Cryptoquip that I did today that comes in the Virginian Pilot. They have a new one everyday, so fun!

QDMKFHBX EJHXYSJL KIDNZDHXYS, YD TRRTNDBSJL CDMHCDC HS ZTE SHFD SK JDTID SYD RTEST QDYHBC YHF. Today's clue: Y equals H.