I have been mulling over a new year's post for a couple of weeks or more now, but for whatever reason I just could not get thoughts to flow from my head to my keyboard in any sort of useful manner. Perhaps it has a lot to do with how I cannot wrap my mind around the fact that 2009 is already upon us. And while it still seems that 2008 was MUCH shorter than 366 days, church yesterday really helped me to put some things into perspective for this new year and so I will share those thoughts with you. :)
I was blessed to share the remaining week of 2008 with one of my favorite people on the planet--my dear friend Shauna. It was quite a wonderful week filled with snowboarding, hiking, Gilmore Girls, karaoke (I even sang!), lots of coffee and delightful conversation. But as with all good things, her visit had to come to an end yesterday morning. I was feeling kind of bummed as I drove away from the airport mostly as the West Coast and Tennessee are simply too far apart and partly as I had been racially profiled during the "random" car search portion of our drive into LAX. (It was bound to happen at some point, but it is no less frustrating.)
As I drove home I debated whether or not I was going to make it to church. I wasn't dressed for it, I wasn't sure I'd make it home in time to change and truthfully I wasn't in the mood. When I got home I decided that I would just have some devotional time & relax, but God prompted me to get ready for & go to church. I am quite glad that I did!
Walking into the sanctuary looking for a place to sit I spotted my dear friends James & Maria whom I hadn't seen in over a month. I was so happy to have the chance to see them, sit with them and get some love from my Filipino sister. That was more than enough for me to know why God prompted my attendance that morning, but wouldn't you know my God had even more in store! P&W was wonderful and the sermon was fantastic.
A couple points really struck me from the sermon. First, our hope isn't in the turning of a page of the calendar--2009 has no power to bring us hope, only God does. Yes it's okay and good to make resolutions and work on improving ourselves, but there's no more reason to do it on January 1 than on October 12. Hope & joy & renewal are not bound by or created by time or calendars. Something I know well but reminders never hurt.
And the main point was on attitude & working toward having a good one. I would say that I am a generally positive & congenial person, but I did feel convicted during the sermon to work on having a positive spirit at all times--something I specifically struggle with in relation to my job. So I decided to pray and thank God for blessing me with my job and to help me to have a good attitude about work no matter what happens. It definitely made a difference in my day today. Having a spirit overflowing with peace & joy & love & grace is definitely a daily process but one worth working on.
I have a lot of hopes & dreams & prayers for 2009, but the main thing I guess I want to leave you with as we embark on this new year together is, find the positive. Have an annoying boss? Dwell on the blessing of having a job rather than his/her crabbiness. Get flipped off on the freeway? Be thankful for the privilege of driving & honk if you have a chance, it helps trust me. :) Get racially profiled at the airport? Appreciate that they're not doing cavity searches because then you'd probably delay a lot of flights with your protesting & eventual arrest--ha! In all seriousness though, it's amazing how much gratitude can change lives. A positive spirit is not always/often easy but it is possible and a worthwhile.
I hope God blesses each of you in 2009 in ways you can't even fathom right now!
I was blessed to share the remaining week of 2008 with one of my favorite people on the planet--my dear friend Shauna. It was quite a wonderful week filled with snowboarding, hiking, Gilmore Girls, karaoke (I even sang!), lots of coffee and delightful conversation. But as with all good things, her visit had to come to an end yesterday morning. I was feeling kind of bummed as I drove away from the airport mostly as the West Coast and Tennessee are simply too far apart and partly as I had been racially profiled during the "random" car search portion of our drive into LAX. (It was bound to happen at some point, but it is no less frustrating.)
As I drove home I debated whether or not I was going to make it to church. I wasn't dressed for it, I wasn't sure I'd make it home in time to change and truthfully I wasn't in the mood. When I got home I decided that I would just have some devotional time & relax, but God prompted me to get ready for & go to church. I am quite glad that I did!
Walking into the sanctuary looking for a place to sit I spotted my dear friends James & Maria whom I hadn't seen in over a month. I was so happy to have the chance to see them, sit with them and get some love from my Filipino sister. That was more than enough for me to know why God prompted my attendance that morning, but wouldn't you know my God had even more in store! P&W was wonderful and the sermon was fantastic.
A couple points really struck me from the sermon. First, our hope isn't in the turning of a page of the calendar--2009 has no power to bring us hope, only God does. Yes it's okay and good to make resolutions and work on improving ourselves, but there's no more reason to do it on January 1 than on October 12. Hope & joy & renewal are not bound by or created by time or calendars. Something I know well but reminders never hurt.
And the main point was on attitude & working toward having a good one. I would say that I am a generally positive & congenial person, but I did feel convicted during the sermon to work on having a positive spirit at all times--something I specifically struggle with in relation to my job. So I decided to pray and thank God for blessing me with my job and to help me to have a good attitude about work no matter what happens. It definitely made a difference in my day today. Having a spirit overflowing with peace & joy & love & grace is definitely a daily process but one worth working on.
I have a lot of hopes & dreams & prayers for 2009, but the main thing I guess I want to leave you with as we embark on this new year together is, find the positive. Have an annoying boss? Dwell on the blessing of having a job rather than his/her crabbiness. Get flipped off on the freeway? Be thankful for the privilege of driving & honk if you have a chance, it helps trust me. :) Get racially profiled at the airport? Appreciate that they're not doing cavity searches because then you'd probably delay a lot of flights with your protesting & eventual arrest--ha! In all seriousness though, it's amazing how much gratitude can change lives. A positive spirit is not always/often easy but it is possible and a worthwhile.
I hope God blesses each of you in 2009 in ways you can't even fathom right now!
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