Reflections on a Year Gone By


Can you believe it? At midnight tonight, the ball will drop, the bells will chime, people will scream, pots will be banged, kazoos will be blown on, and 2011 will slip from our grasps forever, and we'll welcome in 2012 with open arms. A new year, a clean slate, full of promise and opportunity. I wonder what will happen in 2012 ...

The year of 2011 was a year to remember for all of us. The 10 year anniversary of 9/11, the devastating Japanese earthquakes, the Cardinals winning the World Series, the death of Osama bin Laden, revolutions in Egypt, the marriage of William and Kate, and so many other things that were never splashed across the homepage of CNN but impacted each one of us so poignantly, we'll never forget. This was a year of discovery and heartache. Sorrow and joy. Perhaps this was the worst year of your life. Perhaps it was the best. As this year draws to a close, I find myself asking some hard questions. How did I glorify God this year? How did I not? Did my relationship with Him strengthen or weaken? Did I learn to trust Him more? Was I faithful through suffering? 

I don't know whether you make New Year's resolutions or not, but as we embark upon this new year, as yet unblemished, in the words of my dad, I hope that we'll all strive to know Christ and to make Him known. For that is why we were given every new minute, every new hour, every new day, and every new year.