Friday, December 31, 2010

A Friday Five for the New Year


I'm hosting the Friday Five today over at Rev Gal Blog Pals. I'm not a big fan of New Year's resolutions, but it does seem a good time for some reflection and planning. For the last few days I keep thinking of Psalm 90:12 So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. Among other things, that seems to say that reflection is in order if we want to learn and grow.

For some of us, this has been an incredibly difficult year; for others it has been a year of many joys. For all of us, there have been challenges and questions and there have been blessings and--maybe even an answer or two! As we say our goodbyes to 2010 and look towards 2011, share with us five blessings from 2010 along with five hopes or dreams for 2011.

1. All of us were relatively healthy in 2010. Since I live with two people who have daily struggles with chronic disease, this is a blessing! I hope and pray for continued blessings of health for my family. Boring answer, but the first one that comes to mind!

2. I am blessed to have my daughter's family nearby. When I married, it wasn't long before I moved to the opposite coast, and then it was moving hither and yon for a long time. We never lived near our families--I know, I know--this can be a blessing. But in our case, there was a void. I was sad that our children never knew what an extended family could be like, because we saw family very seldom. It is a great joy to be able to drop in for coffee, to see our beautiful granddaughter, Trinity, on a regular basis, to know our son-in-law. It has been a difficult year for them financially and we all are unsure what our futures hold when it comes to employment, ministry, etc. but whatever comes, I hope it comes in such a way that we don't live far apart!

3. I finally started writing in earnest. Not just talking about it, actually doing it. The bad part is that I have been unable to focus much on it, especially lately. So I hope to do better about taking this endeavor seriously in 2011.

4. I was blessed to be employed. So many people in our area are really struggling financially. I know what a good thing it has been to work, to have a place to go, to contribute something worthwhile, to meet people I would not have met otherwise. My deep longing is clearer direction about whether I should continue to hope and look for ministry opportunities--or whether I should just seek to be content as I am. This has been a deep struggle for me this past year, and I want to have a right attitude about it all.

5. I am deeply grateful for continued blessings that, once upon a time, were doubtful. These are many, but a few are: vision, my husband and family, a house, friends, thoughts, songs, dreams. For the New Year I want to be more mindful of these things, to make each day, each moment, count. I have so much...thanks be to God!

10 comments:

angela said...

Beautiful portrait of your year. I like your ending too. I to have not lived close to my relatives and it's essentially made the local church my family for my daughters.

Blessings for a wonderful year.

Robin said...

So wonderful to have your family nearby. Even though I grew up surrounded by extended family, it wasn't something that I ever seriously considered as a likelihood after college, and now I wish that I had.

Auntie Knickers said...

Beautiful reflections, and thanks for giving us a new take on "resolutions."

Joan Calvin said...

Thanks for reflection and the opportunity for me to reflect.

altar ego said...

I really resonate with your blessings, as well as your hopes. Not being near family is especially tough for me. My own family are all in CT, and my step-family are all south of us. Finances make it close to impossible to travel, so I try to make my peace with that. With aging parents on the one hand, and a growing family on the other, it is really hard.

Thanks for today's ff.

Sandy said...

Thanks so much for sharing this Friday Five with us! And I can't recommend CPE enough, especially if you have a great supervisor/program. It's an amazing opportunity for both personal and professional growth I think every minister should have!

RevDrKate said...

Wonderful list of blessings, and a great F5 to send us out of one year into another. Thank you!

Terri said...

WIshing you many blessings in 2011.

Princess of Everything (and then some) said...

This is such a great list. I am so glad that family gets to be near by.

Jan said...

Thanks for this FF. You are certainly blessed to have family nearby.