The very best way I can think of to describe 2010 is this, "it was the best of times AND it was the worst of times."
It was a year of growth, trust, pain, longing, frustration, fear, anticipation, JOY, heartache, learning, loving... It was a year I never want to forget, but I also would not like to relive.
There were moments when I wondered if I would make it. I doubted that I had the strength to get through - and indeed I DID NOT. I did not have even close to enough strength on my own, but when I truly and totally relied on God, HIS strength carried me. That was really the theme of my year, one that I had to learn and relearn and then relearn yet again. I AM NOT STRONG ENOUGH TO FOLLOW GOD'S WILL ON MY OWN. (Maybe in all caps and bold it will soak fully into my being!)
As I think through the year, this song keeps playing through my mind.
Blessed be HIS name, no matter the circumstances - because He uses each and every circumstance for the good of those that follow Him and are called according to His purpose. (See Romans 8:28)
Thank you sweet patient Father! Blessed be Your name.
***My dear friends,
Thank you for walking through 2010 with me. Thank you for praying for me, encouraging me, and loving me. Thank you for sometimes being satisfied with reading my blog instead to hearing it from me. Thank you for being patient and kind. Thank you for helping Krissy come with to Ethiopia. Thank you for so fully embracing my entire family. I needed you more than you will ever know. Each prayer whispered, every smile or hug of understanding, every meal dropped off, every phone call, text, email, and card came just at the right time. God used each of you to carry me though. I love you.
