The Obligatory End-of-the-Year Reflections

I lied.


I'm not reflecting. Not on here at least. Sorry.


But, what I am doing instead is a meme I stole from this blog. Feel free to read the rules and participate. It entails going through the first posts of each month this year, pasting the first sentence from each post and the link to that post.


Hummm wait, that does sound like reflection at the end of the day! So I wasn't lying in my title then :D


I spent the past hour or so living through the motives behind the different posts as I flipped through the months and reflecting on what state I was in.
In short - 2011 was a great year :) in EVERY area - yup, I said it, even though I had months where I was wasn't feeling so up or tidy, it was still a great year. And guess what? 2012 will be even greater.
You want to know why? Because I serve "... the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not." (Romans 4:17b, NIV). 


I began the year in the midst of pivotal change. In short, in those few months of the first quarter of the year, the only few things I was sure of was my past and my present... really simple things like my name... those sorts of things were what I was sure of. Where I would be moving to or what my life would be turning into after college were in the dark. The second quarter met me trying to graduate college as a sane person and battling a personal lost cause. I learnt that I can be an emotional mess and do well on an exam! Good times, good times - lol. The third quarter saw me mourning and celebrating - it is terrible to have a really good thing and a sad thing happen to you at the same time. You aren't quite sure which to do at what time: cry or laugh? It was quite confusing. The last quarter saw me mustering courage and ambition and making friends and just stepping out more and more out of my comfort zone. This quarter was my return to what I'd now call my new normal :) The past few months have been some of the best of the year so far!


So, while I wait to be transformed into what He is calling me into, enjoy the trip down memory lane!


January:  I’ve been missing God for… o say like weeks now.
February: But in our time something new has been added. (Romans 3:21, The MSG)
March: Sara's lyrics convey the perfect words for what is on my heart right now...
April: Something I will tell my Daughter earlier on... 
May: So… it is officially less than 3 weeks to my undergraduate graduation. 
June: I have a lot to say and write but I can't, mostly because my mind has been racing faster than the speed of light and I'm really really lazy now (this is what five years of college does to you) so these things will have stay between me and Him.
July: I think I can finally sit through and sift through my thoughts that have been running faster than the speed of light. 
August: Yes, we are in a broken world - there is so much pain...
September: Time is moving so fast.
October: You know that peach perfect day when you stand on the green grass and feel the air sharp and fresh through your lungs...? 
November: It's funny - tomorrow is my birthday.  
December: "We traded up, we traded out" We say.


Have a festive New Year Celebrations!!! 


See ya in 2012 by HIS Grace! Enjoy :D

Regardless of how you spend today...

      Last Night, depression and loneliness came jeering at my doorstep threatening to take over, reminding me of what I lack in close proximity and what I could have if God actually cared about me... I was just about to cry back in response and agreement with them when He let me have a silent realization...


What is the point of Christmas?
Why do millions across the world celebrate it?
Regardless of how I celebrate it or not celebrate it or with whom, does that nullify what we celebrate today and everyday?


     
      Whether you are alone this Christmas, or in the midst of your close-knit family, with friends or acquaintances, strangers or in transit... do remember that regardless of how you spend today or with whom, that baby wrapped in swaddling clothes some two thousand+++ years ago was the Word that became Flesh so that we could have that bountiful freedom to come into His presence unabashed and unashamed to have  our sins healed. He came in humiliation so that we may have peace... He came lowly so that you and I would never be alone... And so today as we celebrate His humility and our freedom regardless of where you are, a toast and shout of joy to Christ for the liberty He has brought humanity!!!

ooo and before I forget, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! and I will let you taste the beauty of the wonderful Christmas tree in my apartment :)

Trade

"We traded up,
we traded out" We say


Huts for sky scrapers...
Hoes for tractors...
Hoop-skirts for booty-shorts...
Hats for do-rags...


"We traded up
we traded out" We say


Women can vote,
Negroes can attend Harvard and Oxford,
Non-discreet lovers can come out of hiding...
We are modern...


"We traded up,
we traded out,
Opportunity for all,
Opulence for the masses"




"We stayed put,
We stayed in a cycle.
Tyranny lives on,
In a morphed figurine of ourselves."


We may have traded green for machine,
We may have traded the opera for the telly,
We may have traded the postman for email...


Yet the desire and hunger,
the lore and the tale
of Man's menacing issues
live on into the future.