Year in Review: Anticipating turning the page to 2010!

This is it. The final day of 2009, and I am thankful to be able to send out a greeting on this Thursday, the 31st, and to also send a prayer for a blessed upcoming new year. I have been keeping a calendar logbook each year since the early 1970’s. In it I record daily activities along with special comments about particular events and happenings. Reading these from years past can be a real kick. What do they contain? The fabric of life lived out one day at a time along with the issues and circumstances that have shaped and grown us as we have aged. If you read my calendar books you would see that family and family related entries dominate. Next would be work related stuff since this is how I keep up with my schedule. A very prominent part reflects the variety of lessons I have worked on for my Bible Study class. My work on this logging is not exhaustive. It’s a listing of highlights more than anything else.

In looking back at 2009 I can pick up on some themes. Helping to see after the needs of my wife’s brother and his family during his health crisis was a big deal. Bro. Milton went down in early December of 2008 and was hospitalized here until he was able to fly to his home in Florida in early March. There were many twists and turns, tears and praise, but in the end we give God thanks for His remarkable work in this situation. His son Byron stayed with us to finish the restoration of our home through mid-May. Getting everything back up and going was also a major activity. We faced other family crises during the year as we saw my mom do battle with pneumonia on two different occasions. Again, we give God thanks that she is doing well as I write this blog today. We also rubbed up against the good times and the bad relating to issues involving our children, grandchildren, extended family, Church family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, and others. Yeah, the challenges are a part of each day too!

I started a verse-by-verse examination of Genesis in January. We have made it through Chapter 31 at this time. I continued my work in the inner city Bible club ministry. I purchased a very nice Santa Suit. I grew a beautiful bushy beard and became the real Santa. I cut back my beard and have once again become a John Doe. We enjoyed great family times of being together to celebrate birthdays, graduations, weddings, baby showers, and sadly, some funerals too. Oh yeah, we did get a new president and we did have our taxes to pay proving up the reality of our experiencing the old adage, death and taxes. The economic situation has been tough but I finished my 3rd year with my company and I love working here. My wife and I began our 46th year together and she will be closing the book on a year where her plate was full to overflowing, almost every single day. Here’s a wow for you: We also are expecting our first great granddaughter to come on the scene shortly. What am I anticipating in the upcoming year? It will likely be more of the same. There will be highs, lows, and much of the in-between. There will be a time for laughter and a time for tears. There will also be the one constant that will carry us through as He did in 2009: God and His presence in our day-by-day living. You have your stuff, we have ours, all God’s children have stuff, but with His help we will keep on keeping on! Amen. Happy New Year! …..More later.