Happy New Year!

Hi friends~

Here's hoping y'all had a safe & happy Christmas season, & are enjoying the start of a fresh year. For me, there's an uncommon sense of renewal, of 'beginning again' that the season has brought.

Maybe it's the age of our children, so engaged in the full spectrum of life: "If I didn't believe in Santa Claus before, I really believe in him now!" -- to -- "All I want is a 5x5 Rubik's cube, because the algorithms of the 3x3 are a snap." (Wha...? Really? Wow.)

Or maybe it was the fun of playing Santa; the phone calls between my husband & me, "Barbie Party Cruiser is in hand," or "Piano keyboard in the scope. Sale price verified," or "Rubik's cube secured." (Then there was the White Christmas, like something out of 'Narnia'...)

Or maybe it was the past year of exploring new activities, new people, new relationships that has ushered in a sense of rising to a plateau -- with the morning sun peeping over the horizon to greet me. Whatever the reasons, I'm grateful, because I often need time to 'gather in' & make sense of my life.

We all need a time for pause. Only then can we look back across time, admire the goodness, observe what needs attention, & resolve to press forward. Only then can we proceed with a crisp & deeper understanding of who we are, & where we're going.

Somehow though, this year's pausing & 'gathering in' was done by a Higher hand, while I tended to earthy, more prosaic tasks... then it arrived to my sensibilities like a joyous, surprising refreshment; a spontaneous, yet natural celebration of the 'full spectrum' that life offers those who are truly living. (Glory, & thanks be to God!)

I suspect, knowing myself, that more reflection is forthcoming, & I'll probably belabor it too much. But for now, I'm enjoying the plateau; this pausing, resting. It's what I needed. Considering that the One in-whose-image & by-whose-Hand I was created paused & rested too, I figure following the shadow of that Company ain't half bad.

Happy New Year, indeed.

~~~