Reflections

There are only 30 hours left in 2011, and while it has been a dismal year on some levels, I am content. I stayed healthy all year, and the attention I am paying to my health has caused me to feel better (other than the soon to be gone knee) than I have felt in years. The high point? Hands down the mission trip to Louisiana. I loved the work, the people, the culture---everything except the airplane ride, and even that was not too bad! It was good to do physical work again, and it was even better to actually be helping someone else with no expectations of reward. Ironically, the reward was the biggest I have every received---genuine gratitude!

Vacation with my family was pretty cool too. I have never been one who vacations at resorts, so this was new, but the best part was watching my sister and the ocean. I take the ocean for granted---after all, it is only a block from my house---but her excitement and wonder was genuine and fun to watch!

Then there was the tsunami---while the world was focused on the horrible catastrophe in Japan, my little town lost its harbor and a big chunk of its fishing fleet. In an economy already critically depressed, many families in the community lost their livelihood. I was out of town when the tsunami hit, and the inability to find out what was happening as I was returning home left its mark. It made me really sad for those days when radio stations carried the news.

So 2012 is right here, right now...and because I am the optimist, all will be well in the year to come. It will present its challenges, and there will be joy and sadness, but all will be well. When I remember that God is in charge, we walk through the valleys and over the mountains together...and that is how it should be.

Christmas 2011

We spent the day over in Medford doing the shopping bit. The older I get, the more I begin to swear that I am not going to do that anymore. I managed to get most of my gifts here locally...a couple of books from a good friend who is an even better author, some homemade stuff from the Holiday Fair, some things from the Museum Gift Shop. There was no hassle for those; no mall, no driving, no frantic crowds and crying children. They felt right in my soul. But there are those things I want to give that are not here in my little town. I suppose I could order them on line, but even leaving the money in a nearby city seems more like what I should do...so I go to the mall.

Crying children...the mall is always full of them...mostly crying because they are tired. Sure, there are those who are crying because they want everything in sight, but most of them are just plain tired. I am jealous...with my bad knee, walking around the mall makes me want to cry too!

We shouldn't have to cry at Christmas! We are celebrating, in my culture at least, the birth of the child who would come to be the savior of a good chunk of humankind; at least that is what we believe. We should be jumping with joy instead of stressing ourselves and our children to tears over things which really do not matter.

My shopping is over; the cooking over the weekend is in the hands of those who can handle it. My job is to lead worship...two times...two times in 24 hours, I get to do my best to help people look past the mall, past the exhaustion, past the tears, and pause at a manger....I cannot think of a better way to celebrate Christmas! I get to partake of the blessing, and that is the best gift of all.

Where Have I Been?

I was absolutely astounded to realize I had not visited my own place for almost a year; almost a year in which I was so distracted as to forget that I had a place in which to ruminate on my life! It actually has been a pretty amazing year, full of all sorts of things that lives usually contain. There was work and vacation, joy and sadness, life and death, all of the stuff.

Now a new year looms on the horizon, and with it some new challenges about which I know as well as those things which will remain hidden until their time. There is really no difference in them for if I remember who is in charge of my life, I will walk through them. Do we ever really know what is going to happen? I am not so sure I really want to know!

I had an amazing evening yesterday. After a wonderful Chinese dinner with friends, we all went to a concert presented by the Canadian Brass. I love all sorts of music, and I really love brass. I like the energy of the trumpets, the mellow French horn, the smooth quirkiness of the trombone and that solid bass. Brass music makes me happy, even when the music itself is more somber. These five gentlemen put on an amazing show, and I was thoroughly entertained. They did some things with music I have never heard or seen done, and the memories have energized my season.

I am going to really try to make it a habit to come to this place on Friday...to reflect on the week past and maybe focus on the week to come. There are so many cool things happening in my life...I just want to share them! May the joy continue....