one calendar year ends and another begins.
it’s a rather arbitrary way to mark beginnings and endings in life, but it works as well as any – only I don’t feel like I’m ending anything significant, or beginning anything new. I’m exactly where I was last year, when 2014 ended and 2015 began: working at the same job, raising the same two children, married to the same husband who’s still going to the same school, living in the same house, involved in the same HOA, pursuing the same God, and wrestling with the same questions.
what thoughts do I have to take away from the year?
- that accumulating more and more information doesn’t necessarily move me any closer to actually making a decision
- that some of my worst parenting moments are when my routine is thrown off and I don’t have a backup plan, and my indecisiveness and uncertainty make everyone feel uneasy
- that good communication is very important to me but I’m not very good at it
- that relational discipline (as opposed to behavior modification) takes a lot of energy and effort but it really is worth it
- that the joy two siblings can find in each other more than makes up for the squabbles and conflicts they also have
- that if I could get my head out of the clouds and away from abstract ideas long enough to notice the world around me, I could be a lot more loving in my actions because I would observe the needs of others
- that there must be something of value and purpose I can do with my dreaming and philosophizing but I don’t know what it is yet
- that I desperately long to be holy but it’s going to be a long, painful road for me to get there (most likely involving death, since I doubt I’ll reach holiness this side of heaven!)
- that prayer is more powerful than I had ever imagined
Any random thoughts you have as you look back at the year?
May your new year be filled with grace and blessing! Happy New Year!
little thoughts 