Fair Warning: This may be a bit long!
I am so excited today! It's New Years Eve! Time for reflecting, letting go...getting ready and moving on! As kid, my adult relatives would pick a reasonable hour (any time a bit latter than our "normal" bedtime so we thought we were staying up really late1)--and then do a countdown--we'd stand on an ottoman (anyone out there know what that is besides me? Telling my age/origin here!), and "jump" into the New Year amongst lots of noisemakers and happy shouting. Then we'd go to sleep. Fast forward a lot of years. I chose to marry my late husband on New Year's Eve--simply because it was a time of new beginnings. I adore New Year. The old year-- good, bad and indifferent-- is behind you-and there is a CLEAN SLATE before you. Funny, I can really feel that with the NY but in actuality, for a believer, it's like that anytime we ask forgiveness! He wipes it away. We can start new. Clean. Refreshed. Hmm...
So today...I am doing a few Flylady things-I AM NOT---trying to "catch up" and yes-I am WAY BEHIND! Flylady will help me deal with that bit by bit. I slept late (and I slept well!), and am sitting here enjoying a cup of coffee my darling husband delivered. THAT is something I am thankful for as our marriage was truly failing earlier this year. We've come a long way. I am also making it a habit to start my day with not one but TWO devotional books. The first one is my well-worn copy of AFFIRMATIONS FOR THE INNER CHILD by Rokelle Lerner. Here's today's message from her, appropriately titled Reflection/New Years Eve:
I pause between the passing of the old year and the beginning of the new. My plans for making necessary changes have already been set in motion. Their fulfillment lies ahead.
I am so excited today! It's New Years Eve! Time for reflecting, letting go...getting ready and moving on! As kid, my adult relatives would pick a reasonable hour (any time a bit latter than our "normal" bedtime so we thought we were staying up really late1)--and then do a countdown--we'd stand on an ottoman (anyone out there know what that is besides me? Telling my age/origin here!), and "jump" into the New Year amongst lots of noisemakers and happy shouting. Then we'd go to sleep. Fast forward a lot of years. I chose to marry my late husband on New Year's Eve--simply because it was a time of new beginnings. I adore New Year. The old year-- good, bad and indifferent-- is behind you-and there is a CLEAN SLATE before you. Funny, I can really feel that with the NY but in actuality, for a believer, it's like that anytime we ask forgiveness! He wipes it away. We can start new. Clean. Refreshed. Hmm...
So today...I am doing a few Flylady things-I AM NOT---trying to "catch up" and yes-I am WAY BEHIND! Flylady will help me deal with that bit by bit. I slept late (and I slept well!), and am sitting here enjoying a cup of coffee my darling husband delivered. THAT is something I am thankful for as our marriage was truly failing earlier this year. We've come a long way. I am also making it a habit to start my day with not one but TWO devotional books. The first one is my well-worn copy of AFFIRMATIONS FOR THE INNER CHILD by Rokelle Lerner. Here's today's message from her, appropriately titled Reflection/New Years Eve:
On this New Year's Eve, I take this moment to rest and reflect. I feel myself moving in perfect balance and harmony. I feel my connection to the earth and the universe. I know now that I am firmly set on my path. Even if I should stray for a moment, I will always find my way back.
I look back on the past year and rejoice in both my mistakes and my achievements. They have taught me well. I look forward to the new year with fresh eyes. I breathe in the stillness before time begins.
Then, from Anne Wilson Schaef's MEDITATIONS FOR WOMEN WHO DO TOO MUCH...
Beauty
Happily may I walk.
May it be beautiful before me.
May it be beautiful behind me.
May it be beautiful below me.
May it be beautiful above me.
May it be beautiful all around me.
In beauty it is finished.
--Navajo prayer
This got me to thinking...I am trying to let go of my "Eeyore" attitudes and thinking, and learn to look to the good, the positive...and this prayer may just help me keep focused! I had the distinct pleasure of talking with Theresa's 83-year old father this past week. He told me I sounded like a happy person (he doesn't know me very well!). He told me to always stay happy. He is a delight and is FULL of sound advice. I wish I could sit at his feet and listen for hours to the wit and wisdom I know he has. In 2011-this is my prayer-for all of us: May we walk it happily. May we leave beauty behind us, below us, above us, around us. May we finish each day with..."it was beautiful" and "well done, my good and faithful servant"(Matt.25:21).
Before I close, I would ask for prayers for some dear friends, Dot and Bill Shuck. I received word last night through our church's prayer chain that Bill is in the last stages of cancer. Hospice has been called in. Please be in prayer for Dot as she walks the path before her, that their end time together on this earth may be filled with the peace, love and presence of Christ.
Celebrate 2010. The good-and the bad. Look forward to 2011. The possibilities-and the promises. Enjoy. Be safe. Until next time, happy stamping and scrapping. Blessings, Sharon
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