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.