The View From Here

The end of a year provides people with a landmark they can use for different reasons.  Some people use it as an excuse to party because they made it through another year.  Others use it as a time to make a new start on aspects of their life that they want to change.  I will use it as both a time to celebrate and a time to look to the new year that God has given me, but first I want to look back on the blessings that filled 2007 in no particular order.

• South Side Baptist Church has been a huge blessing in my life this year.  Lacey and I finally managed to join the church this year even though we have been involved in leading worship there since Summer 2006.  The people at this church are so genuine.  The teaching that goes on encourages people to be real with themselves and each other.  Being involved in leading God’s people to worship has also been a huge growing experience and a huge blessing.
• We have been truly blessed by the friends and family that God has put in our lives, some new and some old.  We have made some very close and dear friends at church who encourage us so much in our walk with the Lord.  We have also been blessed by the friends that God has allowed to move closer to us.  I can’t say enough about the family God has put us in.  We are so blessed to have families that love the Lord.
• I am so thankful that the Lord has put me into a new job this year.  His timing is always perfect.  Things at the bank were starting to get hard to deal with.  I know that God doesn’t always take us out of hard situations and that He uses those to grow us but I am thankful the He placed me where He has.  The company I work for has Godly leadership and it is amazing to see the difference that makes in the work atmosphere.
• Lacey and I purchased a new house this year!  We had been looking for a while and I had thought that we would have to wait a while because we could not find something we liked in our price range.  Then we happened upon a house (that we had know about for a while, we just hadn’t looked at it) that was exactly what we were looking for.  Again, I can see God’s hand at work here.  If we hadn’t shopped around first to see things we were looking for we might not have known that this was the house.  The timing couldn’t have been more perfect as well. We looked at this house for the first time two days before we had to put in our notice on our apartment.  God’s timing is perfect.
• Lacey and I had the opportunity to travel some this year.  This is something we really want to do as a couple.  Granted, we started small but that is to be expected.  We made it to Dripping Springs to visit some friends and spend some time in Fredericksburg.  We also made it to Dallas to visit my brother and sister-in-law and we threw in the Ft. Worth Zoo while we were in the area.  I had the opportunity to travel to Canada for work this year as well.  It wasn’t exactly a trip for pleasure but I did get to fly on the company jet and see a part of the world that I hadn’t yet.
• We are very blessed to be able to participate in helping people who live in a part of the world that isn’t affluent like America is.  God has given us some money and we are able to give that to Compassion International and Mission of Mercy.  I have said it before but I will say it again: if you have money to give, I can’t think of a better gift than to give these children a chance to meet Jesus.
• God has shown me, vicariously through others, the preciousness and brevity of the life he has given us.  Several people around me have lost loved ones and I have seen what it looks like to have a peace that only God can give.  This has been a blessing in two ways.  First, it has reminded me that I am surrounded by people who are perishing everyday and I have the opportunity to share Jesus with them.  Second, I know that I will lose a loved one someday and it has given me some preparation and peace to see others around me go through this.  God does bless people through adversity.
• I know this post is getting really long and I apologize to your eyes but I have one left.  This is a fun one so it is worth the read.  As big as most of the above things are it is important to recognize God’s blessings even in the little things.  Super Mario Galaxy has been a blessing to my wife and me.  There are only a few games out there that we can enjoy together and this is one of them that gives us some quality time while enjoying one of my favorite pastimes.

As you can see, God has been very active in my life this past year.  Even as we look forward to the new year I would encourage each of you to think back on all the ways God has blessed your life in 2007.

Brian