Did you know you can actually do that? I looked it up, and one of the meanings is “deep pondering, musing”. So that is what I have been doing, reflecting forward and backward. I love a new year. It feels so fresh and exhilarating to teeter from the edge of a tired, raggedy December into a shiny, unsullied January.
I have always enjoyed Calvin and Hobbes, and had to laugh at this illustration today. One part of me is so excited to go exploring, and yet I feel so sad that for many people, 2012 will be the year their lives fell apart: the year of the school shootings, the year of the gaping, raw cries of “Why?”
It was not an easy year for us, by any stretch, but we see that it was a time of abundant grace! I think sometimes we just keep pleading for mercy, breathing, doing the next thing, and asking for help, and it is only later that we realize the obvious fact that Someone was carrying us …Even in the very middle of the soul-stretching struggles that we didn’t think we deserved. It is that reflection on the past that gives me confidence for the future.
Recently I have seen enough negative media and crackpot conspiracy theories and the-left-is-the-devil, no-the-right-has-their-heads-in-the-sand junk to make me want to go straight up. People say, “Oh, just think what your children are going to have to deal with!” I do think about that, but it seems rather pointless to me. This is our time to shine, my friends!
In Matthew 5, we find this encouragement from Jesus: Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. I really like how the Amplified Bible just… amplifies it. 🙂
“Let your light so shine before men that they may see your moral excellence and yourpraiseworthy, noble, and good deeds and recognize and honor and praise and glorify yourFather Who is in heaven.”
This is clearly not the time to cower! It is the time to be bold with our light, to intentionally make His name glorious in this sad old time in which we live! I want to go exploring in the new year! How about you?
wocket in my pocket 
Love your pondering Dorcas.. ( at home by myself tonight too!) I have been thinking too with the current political situation, it is extremely frustrating to me that the lawmakers can’t seem to accomplish anything. What can I as a one person do? I want to let my light shine…God is not less powerful then he was 50 years ago; he is still in control! I am blessed with an amazing family and a powerful, amazing God. Blessings to you and your family in the next year.
Good words, my friend! Maybe it is the “worst of times”, but it certainly is also the best and most exciting for those of us who belong to another kingdom!