A New Year

As I turn my head and look back on the last year, I can’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. I think I can safely say that this last year, at least for my family and I, was one of the hardest. At the same time, I think this last year was one of the most fulfilling. We’ve walked through the valley and God has been with us every step of the way, from my firing from Pima Medical Institute to our current financial situation. The challenges have been anything but scarce.

I feel that my will has been tempered into steel. I feel my resolve has strengthened into something resembling titanium. My purpose has shown greater than ever before this last year and now, as I stand on the precipice of 2010, I have nothing but high hopes for the new year.

Looking at our bank account, some ask why I would have high hopes. We’re still in an apartment, our cars are breaking down, we need a new bed, and some mornings I wake up and wonder when it’s all going to just crash and burn…and yet I have never been more at peace with my life, with my family, with myself. I am still called to write full time. I am confident that will never change.

I find myself smiling with gratitude when I think of how far we have come down this road. I can mark the date – July 30th, 2009 – the day I was fired. The day that I took a new path, that I decided to trust in God for more than just my salvation. I began to trust in Him for my daily bread, for the very breath I breathe.

If there’s one thing I can confidently say, it is that I have no regrets. Would I still go through what I went through at Pima if I had known the outcome? Of course. Would I still have dealt with the financial struggle of the last five months if I knew I would be at this very moment in time, still relying on God, still waiting for the promise to be fulfilled? Yes. Because I know the promise will be fulfilled. I know God will come through, as He has been this whole time. Sometimes, striving for a goal isn’t always just about the goal itself, but about the journey to get to it. And that journey has changed me.

The first half of 2009 was a season of preparation, of training. The second half was a season of waiting. And now, as we embark into 2010, let us enter a season of change. Let us strive for the promises that have been placed before us. Let us dare to become something more than ourselves. Let us become who we were always meant to be…

I wish all of you a wonderful New Year. I’ll see you on the other side…