Happy 2008!

A new year, another chance for things to go fabulously right, horribly wrong, or somewhere in between.

In 2004 and 2005, I was waiting for my marriage to officially be over. In 2006, Brian and I were just starting to figure out that maybe there was something really good going on with us. Now it's the end of 2007, the start of 2008. Still no job for Brian here, but hopefully that will change soon. No wedding ring on my finger as of yet, although I did get my promise ring for my birthday. But we're in it for the long term, and I believe things will work out.

Good things in 2007:

~I got to move to a new job role at work, so my job no longer sucks big dirty rocks and no longer makes me want to cry or throw up when I get there.
~J started kindergarten.
~My promise ring, and what it stands for.
~Bright Blessings is at least up and running, if not taking the world by storm.
~I no longer cry (well, not much) when I pay bills.
~No credit cards means no huge after-Christmas debt to pay off!
~My dad came to my house for the first time in five years, and it was a good visit.
~I think we've found a church home we can really fit into, and where we can really find a community of faith to be a part of.

Not so good things in 2007:

~My new job role is a huge improvement over my old one, but it's kind of boring sometimes, and still not something I see me doing for the duration of my career. But hey, it's better than it was.
~I learned that my dad has Parkinson's.
~Finances still aren't as stable as I'd like them to be.

Two things I'd like to keep in mind as a new year begins:

Once I had it all planned out
My dirty fingers moved about
To make a mess of everything around me
I don't claim to know my way
I still run in circles everyday
Running around half blind
Life can be unkind
But it's better than it was
It's better than it was
I complain very little because
It's better than it was

I get to remembering
We had a lot more money then
To make a mess of everything around us
Now the money comes and goes a bit faster
Then my confidence grows
Everybody knows
There ain't nothing new about money woes

But it's better than it was
It's better than it was
It's better than it was
It's better than we ever could have
Wished it to before
It was bad a while ago
Better this I know

It's better than it was
Better than it was
I complain very little because
It's better than it was
-Fastball, "Better Than It Was"

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
Jeremiah 29:11

I'm starting to see now that, even when things have seemed hopeless, even when I've thought that I can't possibly keep going, can't possibly get out of whatever mess I find myself in, somehow the worst never happens. I may anguish for a while and fret and stew, but the sun comes up the next day, the world keeps on turning, I keep breathing in and out and putting one foot in front of the other. God has never yet let me down, and I see now that He's been the one carrying me all along. It's not my strength getting any of this done, and now that I see that, maybe I'll finally have sense enough to get out of the way and let God do. My faith has waxed and waned over the years, and the past two or three or four years have likely been the lowest point to date. I don't know His plans, but I've got the hope back, and I'm eagerly anticipating the future that is to come.