It’s almost a new year. I don’t know about you, but I never dreamed that I would be about to write 2011 on my checks. Granted it will take me to July to quit writing 2010, but nonetheless it will still be 2011. But one thing I love doing at the end of a year is recounting all of the beautiful ways God has been faithful. That I’ve seen His hand. That I’ve sensed His presence. That I’ve encountered His loving discipline. That I’ve seen Him move in the lives of my friends and family. In remembering, I am encouraged in the new year that no matter what I face, He will be just as continually faithful as He has been in the last forty-one.
Christmas night Philly was doing a devotional with our family and he was talking about how God is “Emmanuel- God with us.” He asked the kids if they had ever felt God with them. They all said they had. And then he asked if any of us had a story of when God was with us. I felt the Lord tugging on me to tell a particular story- but this is a tough crowd, and I wasn’t sure if they would look at me like I was crazy. So I sat there, running my fingers through one of the girls hair while she was snuggled up against me debating with my Father. He won.
I said, “I do.”
Philly even looked at me as if he were shocked. But I began to share a story that I share in my new book “Flying Solo: A Journey of Divorce, Healing and a Very Present God” about my first Christmas after my divorce and how a simple gift spoke volumes to me about God’s detailed love.
This year has been no different.
He has brought me- a new family- I’ve seen provision come on days when we didn’t know where it would come from- We have been blessed with another year of healthy parents- healthy children- amazing friends- I saw the dream of my first non-fiction book be published which I never thought would happen- we experienced two amazing VBS for Women events this year- God gave me a husband who loves, leads and listens. He gave me five amazing bonus children who had challenged me and grown me in this year in ways I didn’t know was humanly possible.
The list goes could go on for days, and in the pages of my journal I will be more specific…but for now- I encourage you to take some time before the new year rushes in – to remember the sweet ebbing tides of the year that is rolling out.
The people we had to say good-bye to, the new ones who have entered our life and the ones we have yet to meet. What will you remember this year? I would love to know…
