Reflections

...on my identity - this year I was sweetly reminded of the wonderful blessings I have in Christ and the Gospel. I have been learning to apply all aspects of my identity in Christ to every area of life. I feel like God gave me new joy in my salvation this year in a way that has not happened in a long time. This has been a wonderful blessing from the Spirit, and I pray it continues on into 2011.

...on being a wife - in 2011 Rob and I will have known each other for a whole decade! I cannot put into words the joy I feel at being married to such a wonderful man. I am constantly reminded that God rejoices to give us good gifts when I think of Rob and our relationship.

...on being a mom - it was incredibly fun to experience 6 to 18 months with Brynne this last year. It feels like we blinked, and the time was gone. These months have been full of change for her. Sometimes it seems she changes and grows every day. There are many challenges to parenting, but I cannot get over the blessings of being a mom to Brynnie.

...on my local body - we were able to be part of some very exciting things at Cornerstone this year. Our community group met this fall and put some goals in place. We talked a lot about how the gospel applies to our lives and should be impacting those around us. We were able to have multiple block parties and reach out into our communities as a group. I'm really praying that the Lord expands our ministry together this year.

...on our future - we continue to ask God for direction as we look to a new year. Our house is on the market. We have had one serious buyer look, but he has not contacted us again since then. We would still like to go to Tacoma, WA, but are willing to go anywhere the Lord directs. I'm thankful for the lessons God teaches us through waiting.

...on having a book list - this year was the first time I worked on reading through a list of books. I had about 15 and made it through about 11 (a few were replaced with something else I picked up during the year). Even though I did not get through as many as I would have liked, what was great about having a list was that I always had something in mind to get going on. It really helped me to be more focused with my reading. I would definitely like to do this again.

...on reading my Bible - that sounds weird, but it was parallel so I had to do it :) - I posted earlier in the year on how much I enjoyed the NLT chronological Bible this last year. It was so enjoyable to read events in order and really helped me to see the overall flow of scripture better. For Christmas this year, Rob bought me the TNIV Books of the Bible. If you have not heard of it, it is amazing! It is written without any chapter or verse markings and laid out more like a normal book. They have a number of reading plans to help you go through scripture in a very purposeful way. Books that were originally written together (ie Luke and Acts) are put back together etc. I just started their 60 day reading plan called the Drama of Scripture. It has been awesome so far.

These were a few reflections I had as I thought about heading into a new year. Sometimes I feel a little depressed when a new year rolls around...I think for a number of reasons. But this year I actually feel so much joy. I'm so thankful for what God has been doing and look forward to whatever He will bring this year. I pray the same is true for you.