Goodbye, 2005. Hello, 2006!

Jeremy and I greeted the New Year last night under the disguised personas of “Wey” and “Mary” from a murder mystery game. Truthfully, it was one of the most entertaining New Year’s Eve parties ever. While I delighted in dressing up and Jeremy seemed to dread it, we had a great time eating loads of delicious foods and working through the murder mystery scene by scene. Cranium was cracked open a few minutes before midnight, interrupted by a bit o’ kissing, then continued until around 2am. In many ways we are indeed old fogies—but last night proved we haven’t succumbed entirely yet to old fogeyism… I was grateful for good friends and good fun for ringing in ’06.

I spent some time yesterday, at perhaps the longest brunch known to man (or really, woman), reflecting on the last year and looking towards God’s providence in the new one. And as I sat down this evening to type up a blog post, I decided to crack open my recently-neglected journal and survey the year. Well, survey says (!) 2005 had its rough patches. Relationally, it was a year of transition. Friends moved, friends married, friends moved again… and some stayed as neighbors. My best friend and I celebrated seven years together and, in the process, discovered no seven year itch and a definite seven year rut. Suffice to say, many lessons on love (specifially, the five languages of love) have been learned in 2005. In many ways I’ve come into my own as a mother this year, and my relationship with my daughter has stretched me in more ways than I ever imagined. Honestly, I’ve never loved anything as fiercely as I love my little family. Physically, this past year was a doozy. I came into the year having struggled with arthritis for over six months and confident I’d somehow shake the condition entirely. But that was not to be; it was not the cup God has apportioned me. It wasn’t until September that I discovered I had rheumatoid arthritis and with that discovery (I call it a discovery because my dear doctor and nurse had been calling my arthritis “RA” for months without telling me!) I had a lot of issues to work out emotionally. It feels as though the first nine months of 2005 were given in preparation for the RA diagnosis—important lessons were learned in that time, lessons that helped me deal a bit easier with this particular hardship.

So here I am. Still blogging, still sharing life at the Prairie Box, still writing this post because I can’t figure out a decent way to end it. How do you end a review of a difficult year? By reviewing what is true… Excerpted from my journal in March of ’05:

Question: What lessons have I learned in the last year?

• God is faithful and just
• He is close, present, at all times
• He hears me
• He comforts me
• He sustains me
• He sees the masterpiece of me (Joni Eareckson Tada)
• He blesses, continues to give good things

Amen. Welcome, 2006.