Finishing Well
I know that I start many posts out like this but….WHERE OH WHERE has the month….THE YEAR….gone???
The truth is, as fast and furious as it has flown by; as much as people (busy people I might add) comment on the busyness of MY life, in spite of the fact that as the days fly, so do the birthdays (everyone’s), I truly feel that I have LIVED and actively experienced every minute of this year, the good and the bad.
God is and has been so real, so intimate, so close.
For me, the last few weeks of the year are always spent in reflection. I have no speaking/ministry travel so I am free to sit for a few extra minutes every day in my prayer chair (which is right next to my Christmas Tree–WhooHoo).
I sit with daytimer with my last years calendar and my journals and I remember what all has happened over the past 12 months.
I re-live what new things God has shown me, what He has corrected in me and what fresh truth He has revealed to me. I remember people, occasions, moments, events, meetings, miracles, and even FOOD 🙂
I had actually considered moving from my 3 ring notebook calendar to using my MacBook iCal full time– but NOT!!!! I want to RE-touch what God has done each year by holding this thing in my hands and flipping through the pages. I guess I’m just old like that.
I look at each month and thank God for–another year, another anniversary with my precious honey (34 now!), our 5 children (2 through marriage) and our 5 Grandchildren–the birthdays, holidays and even hospital days. I thank Him for the family prayers that have been answered and those that are still on my list. By looking over my calendar, I remember the amazing new people I have met, especially the wonderful wild women of God who have become new spiritual sisters. The ministry moments I have experienced. The new sights I have seen. The surprises God has dropped into my life (Thank you for one of them Mary Snyder :)). The ministry transition that has been so bitter-sweet. Old ministry partners who have moved to new places and the new ones who have moved into place. Times of prayer when I have touched the face of God and times of travail when I have curled up in a ball at His feet.
Through my journals, I reflect on the specific WORD(S) God has dropped into my heart this year.
I begin to take a look at what the next year looks like as far as I know it to be, since God always has surprises in store.
I evaluate my life mission, my vision, my dreams–to see what things might be in store for the coming year–for example, I have wanted to visit the Northeast /New England area for a LONG time. Will this be the year?? On the other hand, I have NEVER wanted to visit ALASKA in the Winter but this IS the year for that and I can see God at work already.
I am excited about what life has in store but for now, I am treasuring today.
The smell of fresh Christmas Tree while getting dressed to go to Disney World for the day to see Christmas lights as only Mickey Mouse can finance!!
THANK YOU to all of my sweet November “Living Free” friends.
The give-away winner for the month is Rita Schrimp!! Email me your address and I will send you this new book by Lysa Terkeurst:
Although December is almost gone, I still want to give something away. Leave a comment any time this month and be entered to win this amazing book called Permission to Speak Freely by Anne Jackson.
I waited far too long to grab a copy of this but read it in one night.
Ann Jackson’s writing has always blown me away. I first found out about her through Michael Hyatt’s blog. Her story, her book, is my passion as well—
LET’S GET REAL IN THE CHURCH!!!
Let’s tell the truth to one another and the world about our struggles, our pain and our REDEMPTION!!!
Revelation 12:11 Gives us no other choice.
I would love to hear about how YOU spend the last weeks of the year!
I am to include meeting you and spending time with you (training and learning) part of my last few weeks of the year! As the kids grow older and start to transition on, my days are not filled with last minute Christmas parties, class parties, church parties, friend parties, parties, parties, parties! Well, you get the idea. The first weeks of December are always hectic with some school activities and church activities but then I have a couple of weeks of “down time”.
It’s been quite a year for me and I plan to sit with my Creator and the Lover of my Soul and contemplate what I’ve learned through the year and where He wants me to go in the following.
::hugs::
Sweet Cathy,
You are on my blessings list as well! I am believing God with you for a year filled with peace, joy and His surprises!! I am so glad we will share it again,
Blessings,
Pat
I’m another holdout who still uses a hard copy planner. I like the portability. I’ve considered utilizing the calendar function on my new Droid phone, but reading that itsy bitsy screen necessitates donning the reading glasses that have become part of my world, and I prefer not to. Plus, I kinda like seeing my engagements in my own handwriting.
I hope your many activities this month go well and bring you much enjoyment.
My end of year brings quite a bit of reflection too as well as a house full of family from near and far. I love the sound of my house full of the voices of those I love… There is something so special about that. I am thankful for my old friends who have walked out this year with me and for the new friends God has brought into my life. This year has held quite a bit of change in my life, brought me to places I would have never imagined, yet, it has all been good and for the best. I am in my maker’s hands and their is NO PLACE I would rather be.
I knew you would like Anne’s book!! I absolutely LOVED it and want my life to reflect being real… the real deal…transparent…so that my story will give others “the permission to go second”…
Jenn,
I for one, am VERY grateful to God for using the challenges/changes in your life to bring you into ours!! We are thrilled and bracing for adventure!!
It is your transparent heart that makes you perfect and placed, for God’s big plans <3,
I am looking towards an amazing New Year!!
p
Pat!!
You are too precious. I count you as a blessing in my life. I met you last year and the Lord allowed me some time with you this year. I’m asking for that blessing to be increased next year!
You are such a joy in my life.
Since I’m a Mary Kay Iady, my last weeks of the year are busy with selling appointments and making deliveries of holiday gifts for my customers. I also spend time playing my harp in preparation for the Christmas Eve services at church, attending a few holiday parties, and a couple concerts. During my devotional time, I reflect on all that God has done with me in the past year, the changes, the healing, new friends, and all the things I learned.
Then the week between Christmas and New Year’s I begin to review this past year and plan the “first draft” of next year. In January things slow down in my business so that’s when I can spend extra time going deeper in my reflection and looking towards the future.
My life has been a crazy, winding, twisting journey! In the last few years it seems like things have taken a dramatic turn for the better. I pray that the second half of my life is better than the first half! Thank you for having a significant part in making that happen.