Reflections on 2008

Last January, I followed Heidi's example and chose a word. The word was to encapsulate what I thought most appropriate for 2008. My word was Courage. I found that this little word became an appropriate theme for me- month by month.

When I look back on this year, I consider it to be one of the best. Even though it is marked with more death and sadness than ever before, the love and togetherness overshadows the other. We have been face to face this year with the reality of living in a fallen, broken world. We have seen one of our biggest earthly heroes walk away from his wife and children. We have watched three loved ones pass away from this life, from us, and into the next. We have seen my Dad's heart break as he said farewell to both parents. We have watched a heroine at church battle breast cancer. We have seen a love one fall under the hidden shadow of alcoholism. Sin bears an ugly mark on our lives.

On the other hand, our family of five has received remarkable blessing. We have enjoyed the flexibility of home school and Andy's job at home. We have talked, played and learned more together than any other year in our life. We have found strength as we mourned with others, as we have been reminded that we are just pilgrims passing through this short life. We have learned to earnestly seek God, as our financial status is always unpredictable. We have been blessed by God's prompting to become deeply entrenched in the lives of teenagers. We have become much more dependent on one another as we took a blind leap into homeschooling. Really, all that we knew as "normal" has been tossed aside for a much less conventional life. Our reluctant, sometimes doubtful, pursuit of Christ's calling for us has lead to deep joy.

One little word- Courage- has been a life-giver. Many times I found myself saying, "Remember courage. Remember to 'fear not'!" as we trudged, squirmed, or leaped our way through 2008. I told my friend the other day regarding our year, "I can't help but wonder if this is the best year of my life. It might not get any better than this!" But still, I have big dreams for 2009.

“One can never consent to creep when one feels the impulse to soar.”

Helen Keller