Goodbye 2010, Hello 2011

When I was thinking about writing a post welcoming 2011, I decided to look back through my picasa album from this past year.


Wow.

So much has happened: weddings and first birthdays were celebrated, a first family vacation was had, Sander and I travelled to an obscure country together without Dexter, and so many other moments small and large (Dexter's first steps, first words, major yard renovations...). But for this post I didn't want to just re-list what we have done this year, if you'd like to know that, just look through our old posts.

Here is what I will think of when I look back at 2010 -- change. Change for the better, maybe some change for the worst. But change seems to sum it up. We went into the year completely sleep deprived and just a little stressed out by new parenthood. Dexter just didn't follow what any of the books said he would do (does any child!?) and for someone like me, it was so hard to feel like each day was "just getting by". But, as the year progressed Dexter got better, I let go of what I began to see as unrealistic expectations, and the joys of watching him grow and learn began to supersede the frustrations.

But the biggest thing I think I will walk away from this year is the idea that I don't have to do everything better. I mentioned it in this previous post, and since posting, it has begun to really sink in. Every time I hear about someone else's accomplishments or someone else's new hobby, I don't have to consider it for myself. I can say "nope, that's not for me." Don't get me wrong, I've never had any problem doing this when someone tells me they are taking up wind surfing or deep sea fishing, but those things that fall into the category in my mind of "things I ought to be doing"...those get me. Like, be a fantastic chef (not just a decent cook), be a mom who cleans the house every morning before 9am (instead of a mom who just keeps things marginally tidy), or be a woman with a successful career and a happy family. Or even little things, like be a woman who sends out creative yet sweet Christmas cards before the end of the year.

All of those things have built up in my life and have caused stress I never even knew about until I read Bittersweet. Now, I am working on my "things I don't do list." Every time I feel something nagging at me and causing stress I can evaluate it and see if it fits into my overall goal for my life, and if not -- on it goes to the "do not do list." Ahhh...the freedom.

And perhaps looking at other's accomplishments and skills and wanting the same in my life is just a form of covetousness, which Mirriam-Webster defines as desiring another's possessions. So, not only do I want to say "no" I want to replace the desire for new skilss with contentment for what skills I do have, and make the most of those God gave me.

As a parting thought, here is December 31st's entry from My Utmost for His Highest:

“. . . God requires an account of what is past” (Ecclesiastes 3:15). At the end of the year we turn with eagerness to all that God has for the future, and yet anxiety is apt to arise when we remember our yesterdays. Our present enjoyment of God’s grace tends to be lessened by the memory of yesterday’s sins and blunders. But God is the God of our yesterdays, and He allows the memory of them to turn the past into a ministry of spiritual growth for our future. God reminds us of the past to protect us from a very shallow security in the present....


Our yesterdays hold broken and irreversible things for us. It is true that we have lost opportunities that will never return, but God can transform this destructive anxiety into a constructive thoughtfulness for the future. Let the past rest, but let it rest in the sweet embrace of Christ.


Leave the broken, irreversible past in His hands, and step out into the invincible future with Him.

Happy 2011 all!