Adieu to 2009

It's officially the turning of a new year. As we stand at the close of the first decade of a new century, there is much to reflect upon, many yet-unanswered questions hanging in the balances, much uncertainty, much pessimism, and yet...SO much for which we can be thankful.

As I sat tonight in our warm living room, surrounded by the impish little faces of a lot of smallish Kulps and a few rather biggish Beatys, I was made mindful yet again of how much meaning, security, and satisfaction is given to us through relationships--first and foremost that which we have with our Heavenly Father, but secondarily, through those which we have with the hundreds and thousands of people whom God places in our lives for us to pour into and learn from.

In looking back over this year, I realize that over and over again, in those times when I was really struggling, wrestling with big questions, or just feeling overwhelmed by the unknownness of life, it was often through relationships--through people--that the faithfulness and love of God was poured into my life when I least expected but most needed it.

Plus, life would be so much less interesting if there were no other humanoids--for real.
Tonight, for example, as our lovely guests were packing up and getting ready to head out the door, we noticed that the youngest little dude was MIA.

We found him upstairs...dribbling finger nail polish onto the floor with a fascinated expression on his wee face. There was something so delightfully comical about the whole thing--he'd given himself a bright pink goatee, was standing uncertainly in a large puddle of pinkness, of which still more was dripping from the upturned bottle in his chubby hand, and every few seconds he would gingerly lift one tiny sneaker, his mouth shaped into a wonder-filled "O" as he set his foot down in a different spot, gazing in amazement at the small pink print left behind on the linoleum behind him. It'd been approximately three minutes since we'd lost sight of him--these little people are ridiculously efficient in their uses of time, I'm telling you...

It was sort of a unique idea...I mean, it's a new year, so why not change the interior decorating a little, right? If splotches are in for the walls, why not carry it over to the floors? Think outside the box. Or the bottle. Whatever works for you.

So yeah. I'm excited about 2010. Cuz while I don't have all the answers, and I really have no clue what might happen during the next twelve months, life's an adventure that's pretty much out of my hands, and nothing takes our God by surprise.

Therefore, I wish you all a marvelous New Year, and hope the next twelve months are filled with unexpected blessings and plenty of growing experiences. In the meantime, I'll be upstairs in my bedroom slippers decorating the floor with blue fingernail polish...