Happy New Year!

Before leaping into a new year perhaps we should do a little remembering. The church is big on remembering. The act of remembering can be paralyzing if we choose to live in the past or it can empower us to live boldly in the future. Remembering can be an opportunity to learn from the good and the bad gone by. Our faith ancestors used the act of remembering to inspire them and give them courage in the days ahead. They remembered the many times God moved in their lives, passing on those stories of hope to the next generation. But their remembering didn't keep them from moving forward into new adventures. The Israelites didn't stay in the desert. Oh, they wandered around for a while, but eventually they moved on to the promised land where God blessed them with new stories and experiences. May our remembering of the past year be a time of giving thanks and sharing stories; a time of laughter and tears, a time of preparing for the future. Perhaps you and your family would like to come up with your own TOP 10 LIST for 2009 before moving bravely into the hope filled future.

DEB'S TOP 10 for 2009

1. Letting go so my daughter could move into a life of healing and growth.

2. A Spirit and joy filled vacation to Puerto Rico

3. Bittersweet good-bye gatherings with Missouri Friends

4. The New Beginning in Jefferson Iowa

5. Camron's Winning Football Season and awesome adjustment to Jefferson

6. Thanksgiving with Family in our new home.

7. Making New Friends

8. Good Health

9. The Raccoon River Valley Bike Trail (it is awesome!)

10. My Dad's Retirement Celebration in Missouri

I give thanks for all these things and for those that did not make the list, for it is from our past that we grow into the future.

Happy New Year!