Giving Thanks

Christmas decorations are officially coming down today. I honestly can't believe how quickly the time went. Christmas was a whirl-wind of traveling, celebrating, best friends, family, laughing... it was simply perfect. Probably the best Christmas I've ever had. My hear is full of thanks when I look back and realize just how beautiful my Christmas was. I'm thankful for a family (both biological and "adopted") who loves me without limits. I'm thankful for God's ever-present hand in my life. I'm thankful for the way my heart felt full for the first time in years. I'm thankful for the diversity that is my life. I'm thankful for what's next. Ringing in the New Year is something I absolutely love. Not only is it a time to look forward to the new possibilities and potential ahead of me, but it is also a time to stop. To look back. To reflect. To give thanks. To CELEBRATE the trials I've come through in the past year. To acknowledge that it was a hard year, but I survived it. Not only did I survive it, but I lived through it. I kept taking steps. Even if they were itty, bitty, tiny baby steps, they were steps that I continued to take. It would have been so easy to hide it, to bury it, to deny the reality of the things I needed to face and to push it back under the rug. And walk away. But instead, I faced it head on. It was hard. There was nothing easy about it, but I'm thankful to look back and see the progress. See the growth. See the joy. See that God doesn't give up on his children. See that he will always redeems his promises. I love what Paul says in Philippians 1 ...."And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns." This is a verse that, in this past year, I took with me. I would post it on my mirror, in my bathroom, on my desk, in my car. I'd take it with me. In my pocket. A constant reminder that God's work is NOT done, and he will continue his good work in me.
So today, I am excited. I am thankful. I am full of hope. A new year is just around the corner. I couldn't be happier. Not happy in a "I'm-so-stinking-glad-this-darn-year-is-over" kind of way, but in a "Look-at-what-God's-done-in-a-year" kind of way.
I can't wait to share some of my goals for 2011... but that's another Blog.

Here's a picture of me celebrating my 26th birthday. I'm 26. That's wild.