Top speed
I can’t believe how fast this year has gone. I remember saying this last year and the year before. It’s getting harder to look back over the years and distinguish one year from the next. Births, deaths and marriages are still my touchstones because they are very personal. We had a family wedding this year and a new grandchild is due in the New Year.
Holidays
Holidays are my next way of remembering what happened in a year. I remember the year I climbed Mt Sinai to watch the sunrise and the year I rode in a gondola in Venice with my two sisters and our husbands.
Illness
Major sickness is a touchstone. I remember the day my sister received the diagnosis of breast cancer and the day years later we celebrated her recovery.
The big wide world
Then there are world events that make indelible footprints on our soul. The unprecedented migration of Syrian refugees is a world problem. So is the fight against terrorism as witnessed in Paris. The missing Malaysian aeroplane will remain a mystery. Three Prime Ministers in twelve months is significant but not for long. The tragedy of Phil Walsh will linger longer.
What were your highlights and lowlights? What will you say about this year?
Stress on speed dial?
Of course the year is not over yet and with all the end of year functions to attend and Christmas preparations to do, there’s no time for reflection now! It’s stress time. When all is well Christmas is fun and a time of building happy memories for the future. Christmas traditions are touchstones in our family. It’s busy but the stress levels stay healthy. If this is you, enjoy this season and thank God for peace and goodwill in your life.
Perhaps it’s a hard time
When all is not well Christmas can present us with high stress. I know several families who will not have a loved one with them this year. It may be a hard time for them. Their Christmas traditions now have a new reality and new touchstones will be made. If this is you, stay authentic and grieve your loss, celebrate the life that was and remember that God is with you.
God in the small stuff
Christmas is part one of the greatest love story we will ever know. Easter is part two of that story. I know I’m in that love story but when I remember my year and look for spiritual highlights it gets a bit fuzzy. Some years I clearly recall Godly interventions, answers to prayers, a conference experience or an ‘aha’ moment but most of the time God in my life is not spectacular. God is in the small everyday stuff of life that I take for granted or think insignificant.
My New Year resolution is to be more sensitive to God’s activity in the ordinary everyday things of my life and write them down so I don’t forget.
May the peace and love of God be with you this Christmas season.