A New Chapter

Today is a day that will go down in the Tenacious memory bank as a day of new beginnings, a new chapter on life. Over the past few months I've slowly been going through the stuff I've collected over the past 12 years as I packed up to move out of my teenage home and into a new one. It's crazy how much two people can accumulate after a decade of living in one place. When I've completed one task, there seems to be another pile of stuff to go through around the next corner.

This move is not only the closing of one door, it's the openning of great opportunity for adventure, BIG adventure. For so long I've felt stuck, and today God proved to me that He's bigger than any mountain that stands in the way of the dreams He places on our hearts. For awhile I've wanted to live on my own, try new things, go new places, but I've felt a bit of a burden financially. But today God shut the door of financial fear, and opened one of blessing. He is showing me that even in the darkest hours, He's still there, aware of my struggles and needs.

Moving is also a time of reflection of the relationships built within this neighborhood, and the new opportunities that lie before me. It's a time to realize and appreciate all that's been given to me, and to think seriously about what God would have the future be. I'll tell you one thing, if I've learned anything from this move, it's that Americans have WAY too much stuff. I mean WAY too much! I keep going through things finding silly little trinkets that someone gave me long ago, that I never really used. So much time and money is placed into things that will never fully satisfy for fulfill.

With that, I've started writing my goals for 2010, and one of the top goals is to make memories instead of buying more "stuff". Because memories are what we take with us, what we cherish. How many of us can name all the presents we received for Christmas 5 years ago? I'd be surprised if we could even remember 1 of the gifts we received. But how often do we remember grandma's fruitcake or the Christmas when Santa was found to be grandpa?

Another goal for 2010 is to live life fearlessly - taking risks, taking on challenges, and living out the "go to grow" calling. I can't believe that another year has gone by, but I'm excited for everything that awaits in 2010. Praise God for His direction and ultimate plan!