The Wading Pool

Anybody else feel that way?  I keep stopping and going “what in the world?  It’s Dec. 30th already?”  Is it just me, or did this year go by insanely fast?

I mean, I feel like it was just yesterday that I was in Israel, completely blown away by the Sea of Galilee!  I feel like we were just beginning to talk about moving back closer to church, and we’ve been in our new home for 8 months now! And, oh yeah,  I feel like Amanda just told me that we were expecting baby #3, and now the boy (yes, boy!) is in the “I’m coming any day” mode!

Wow…what a year.  Then again, aren’t they all like that?  One minute, you’re celebrating the New Year, thinking forward to all that lies ahead, and the next you’re taking down Christmas decorations early (sorry babe) and figuring out what your plans are for New Year’s Eve (sleep, anyone?).  The Speed of Life, and all that.

As I think back over the year, I’m filled with gratitude for all the God has done for us.  There were certainly peaks this year, but there were also deep valleys, yet through it all, He’s been faithful to us.  True to His Word, He’s never left nor forsaken us.

I look back, as I’m sure most of us do, and think on chances missed, mistakes made, things left undone on the perpetual honey-do list.  I want to think back on the ways I could’ve done more, been a better husband, father, pastor, friend, etc.  And I ask God to help me not make the same mistakes in the year to come.

But I also think about the ways in which God changed me this year, the ways that He dealt with me with such grace and mercy, how He is continuing to mold and shape me into who He wants me to be.  I end 2011 a different man than I began it.  No, I’m not who I need to be yet.

But I’m not who I used to be, either.