I'MMMMM back...

Oh, and happy new year. :) I hope it's a good one, full of good cheer. Better yet, full of growth. We had a little impromptu get-together at my place on Sunday night and, as the ball was dropping, I told the little circle of people gathered about how a dear family that I once worked with would go around every New Year and have each family member (including their preschoolers) name a fruit of the Spirit or character trait that they wanted to focus on for that year. And I suggested we do the same. So after the ball came to rest and we toasted, we shared whether we wanted to focus on love, joy, peace, patience, kindess, goodness, gentleness or self-control for the upcoming year of 2007. ("Faithfulness" was the one we couldn't remember.)

Mine was self-control. My runner-up, when I was asked, was gentleness, but if we'd remembered good ol' faithfulness, that would probably have been it. So here's to a year of growth and change for the better---the humility to recognize that I cannot change on my own, and the diligence and obedience (yes, the faithfulness) to do my part in the process.

We also talked about how good God is and has been to us this past year. Think about it. What do you feel God taught/was teaching you in 2006?