Glorious New Year!

It's the New Year's Eve. I wish I had wiser things to say. Or at least feel grateful. But gratitude is a choice, not always a feeling. I am grateful. I am grateful for my family and my friends. I am grateful for the love of my life, for health for hope and for the gift of adventure and courage to pursue my dreams.

What have I learned this year? How have I loved?
Being in Romania at this end of this year makes me appreciate with a broader view all the gifts of 2009: the challenges of 2009, the jobs I have had and the experience I accumulated, my family from California, people that I love and treasure greatly, and people who love me unconditionally just like my own parents do. How blessed I am! We are all human, but we strive to live our lives in God's image and Jesus' example.

I have stressed too much this year. But I am learning more about the things that matter and I appreciate them more.
Maybe it's just a phase (I hope not) but I have felt more attuned to my inward voice, and I make decisions faster, call my next move easier …probably because it has happened that I didn't have as much time to process and reprocess my thoughts when facing such situations.

Today I was reading from Corinthians about "doing everything with love" [and out of love]. I wish I had done that more often. I realized that I don't love everybody fully and selfishly. And no matter how odd that it, I find it easier to love the strangers and those who are the closest to me, but not so much the people I kind of know and I don't really like them as people. It's a shortcoming of mine, and I pray God will fill me with lots of love to spare.

I have gone through a spiritual warfare this fall/winter. Under all forms. And most of the time I have waited patiently to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Sometimes the light can be seen faster than other times.
I am still not sure if the best way to handle things is to carry the burdens for as long as I can until I figure out a way to put them down gently or share them with others. Or bounce them off as they come, with no touchup… I still believe prayer can soften hard and heavy things.

I don't have much else to say right now. Except maybe that I love my brother with all my heart and strength. I also love my parents, who are weird sometimes but they have a very good heart. I am so happy I was able to spend Christmas with them this year. This was all about them and fulfilling that 'dor' and honoring them.

May God bless this new year… and may we bring Glory to Him.