I was painting the bathroom yesterday, reflecting instead of paying attention to what I was supposed to be doing! (Now I’m thinking a discreet quarter round will look nice between the ceiling and the wall.) I was thinking about what an eventful year this last one has been. I know I’m supposed to have been thinking about that long before now, but things have been a little crazy with the move. I guess I’m running a bit behind!

If I am going to truly believe what I say, that God is using everything I’ve ever been through to make me who I am supposed to be tomorrow then I need to look at how He has changed me in the last year. This year has been hard. I know I haven’t experienced pain like others have. And it is easy to see someone else MUCH worse off than we are. But the hard stuff we have gone through is still hard stuff. Walking this road we have experienced things I never thought I’d experience. Hopefully I’ve learned compassion and some sensitivity to others going through the same.
This year I learned what it was like to have an empty cupboard and nothing to fill it with.

This year I learned that God is sovereign and doesn’t have to explain why.

This year I learned that people disappoint but God never does.

This year I learned what it was like to humble myself and ask for help.

This year I learned what it was like to really feel blessed in the middle of crisis.

This year my concept of church changed.

This year I changed.

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of
Compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so
that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have
received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our
lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.”

2 Corinthians 1:3-5