To Every End There Is a Beginning

I've finally gotten used to writing '2015' on my checks and correspondences.  I'll be writing it still for a few more months, the '5' marked over hard with  a sloppy, unnatural '6.'

So I must ask this question: Does time seem to accelerate as we age, or are our thoughts and experiences so varied and full and rich that they use up more of the 24-hour day we are each allotted, so leaving us with far less empty space?

Benaiah taking his kite for a fly-by!

While this year was quite full, the next promises to continue at high speed.  And I'm not sure how to approach it in such a way that I would do better.  It is all in the approach, the mindset....
We all have giftings, talents, callings.  Do we use them for the right purpose?  Do we even know what they are?  Do we drift through days, reacting to things that present themselves to us, or do we direct ourselves to drive through the events and open doors God puts on our path?

My big brothers....

Drift or drive?  Is there a middle ground?  Is there a time to be still and simply be?  To listen and not to do?  To think and be quiet?  To marvel in the simple but profound Truth?

For me, that is the start of my day, but by the middle of the day, too often I find myself swept up in the bustle, with no time to linger, gaze and contemplate.  I do not savor as I ought.  And so, I forget or miss the sweet tidings of the fleeting minutes of the day.  I am blind to the blessings and benighted by the blur. 

more sibling fun

Words for this year include deliberation, intention, carefulness, mindfulness, savor, and wonder.

There is beauty in the dew drop as well as the thunderstorm, in the dandelion seed wafting in the breeze as well as in the hawk catching the updrafts, and in the shaft of dusty light slanting in at the window as well as  in the holiday fireworks display.

the faces!  Sheer delight!

May 2016 be a year of noticing all those little things, whose sum make up 99% of life... the big "impressive" events only a tiny fraction.

A very joy-filled New Year to you, friends and family.  Thank you for reading.  Thank you for walking with us.  Thank you for being a part of that 99%.  May we all discover the middle ground between the overwhelming drive and the uninspiring drift.  May 2016 be a year of knowing, not only our gifts and callings, but the Gift, and the One Who calls. 

May we each rest in Him, while we reflect and respond, pray and press on,  wonder and work. 

Blessed New Year from our family to you