I am enjoying the first days away from work at CU in several months this week up in the great white north of MN...it's a week filled with meals and coffee with long-time friends, time with family, a few sporting events, lots of WII, and some time to read and reflect...so here's a smattering of things that I'm most thankful for as I look back at 2010 and start peering toward 2011...
*Family...near AND far...including parents whose concern for my life never stopped when I left the house and the state...
*Ingrid...turned 40 this year...she's my rock and my greatest source of love and wisdom for all life brings...
*Olivia...so bright and a heart for her friends that's growing...love talking about faith and justice issues with here already...
*Trey...my sports buddy who always is ready for a game of catch or passing the soccer ball around...and who wants to be part of every piece of my life...
*CU in so many ways...a job I get excited about and that is growing...students who love God and are desperate to grow in knowledge and action...the soccer program--players, coaches, trips overseas, and doing something I love...leadership I trust and believe in and who I learn from...and a community to be part of--something so few have in their workplaces...
*Dental care for me when it's not even on the radar of the people I've met in all parts of the world...despite the pain and cost!
*The ability to change thousands of lives thru a soccer match and a basketball game...because we get to share God's blessings to meet the prayers of others...
*The joy of reading and writing and creating...and being allowed to do so almost every single day of my life...
*Friends in places like Charlotte and Chicago and LA and Minneapolis and Atlanta and Houghton and Detroit and Annapolis who I feel safe telling the whole story to about my life, and who sharpen me in ways I can't do on my own...
*The World Cup in Africa this summer...pure fun and joy and bliss...feeling so much a part of something thousands and thousands of miles away...
*ESPN...so shallow, but so true for a sports junkie like me...
*The church...both where I go weekly and so many places across the world...where God's people are at work doing Kingdom stuff in remarkable ways...
*And the blessing of following Jesus for another year...and believing that God's whisper, His voice is indeed worth hearing and obeying in my life...and living and experiencing His presence and power and care in the midst of the struggle and fears and dreams and questions this side of eternity...
The joy of the Lord is indeed my strength...and I am most grateful on a cold early winter night for that joy and peace that trumps all else as I look back at 2010...
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