Once

I once started this blog. It was a place I was going to visit. And friends were going to visit too. We were going to share our journeys together - have some fun, shed some tears and generally just, you know, make our every move and feeling available to the whole wide world. This crazy internets thing.

But, as is my fashion, I discarded the blog after only 13 posts. Thirteen little gems that talked about food and fitness and ... something else that might start with F. I can't really bring any good ones to mind. You see, as much as I love to have others hear my brilliance (and there is so much to share), I just have never been very good at discipline (you may have noticed from the tone of the other posts, ahem).

Also, there is a certain lack of time. Every now and again I'd think of something I'd like to share, but it just never happens because there are two small children that live here. And a grown man. And a dog. But no more fish. The fish died over Christmas - I think we kept the house too cold while we were gone. It's ok, though, none of us were really that attached to the fish. Anyway! Time happens. And it keeps on happening. And it slips by faster and faster (like toilet paper). So, the blog, never a real priority, slipped on down the stream.

But I did want to share some things with the new year. I love The Valley of Vision. Have I shared this before? (Thank you, dear Hannah, for sharing it with me in the first place.) And there is a prayer in there that is often on my heart. In fact, I'd say right around Thanksgiving, as my birthday approaches along with all those other holidays, my mind begins to turn on the thoughts shared within those verses. It doesn't need much of an introduction, because, I'll be honest here, the words are so beautiful on their own, I hate to mess them up with my own cluttered thoughts and emotions. But it brings me to tears (or nearly) every time I read/meditate on it.

So, as you start your new year (isn't every day new year's day? I mean, it's always a year until this day comes back again... I digress, as usual), please enjoy this.

Year's End

O Love beyond Compare,

Thou art good when thou givest,

when thou takest away,

when the sun shines upon me,

when night gathers over me.

Thou hast loved me before the foundation of the world,

and in love didst redeem my soul;

Thou dost love me still,

in spite of my hard heart, ingratitude, distrust.

Thy goodness has been with me another year,

leading me through a twisting wilderness,

in retreat helping me to advance,

when beaten back making sure headway.

Thy goodness will be with me in the year ahead;

I hoist sail and draw up anchor,

With thee as the blessed pilot of my future as of my past.

I bless thee that thou hast veiled my eyes to the waters ahead.

If thou hast appointed storms of tribulation,

thou wilt be with me in them;

If I have to pass through tempests of persecution and temptation,

I shall not drown;

If I am to die,

I shall see thy face the sooner;

If a painful end is to be my lot,

grant me grace that my faith fail not;

If I am to be cast aside from the service I love,

I can make no stipulation;

Only glorify thyself in me whether in comfort or trial,

as a chosen vessel meet always for thy use.

Amen! And let me tell you, I've had some trials in 2010. I mean, who has a year that doesn't include trials?! But that's for another post...

love.