It's a New Year

And new years traditionally bring the excitement of a clean slate!
The looking back on the old.
The longing for the new!

In thinking about the past year, the word that I've decided sums it up is...
Intense.

2008 was incredibly intense.
But good. Oh so good.
It was a year of intense growth.
Which comes with a price tag of intense pain.
But brings the gift of intense joy.
And with the joy... freedom. A sense of flying.
And I long for 2009 to build on the foundation that was laid in 2008.

God and I had a year of reconnecting.
I felt like my extreme need for Him was almost physical.
The intensity of wanting to be in His word.
That almost desperate longing for being in constant contact was something I'd always wanted, but never quite had.

2008 was a year of getting on my knees before God almost daily
and then learning how to get on my face before Him.
It was a year of learning how to be me... unapologetically.
And beginning to care what He thinks more than what others do.

It was a year of finding the spine I've always had, but never quite known how to use.
A year of taking baby steps towards healthily learning how to say no.

And with all of these things, a deep down joy started returning to my life.

So, now in 2009, my prayer is a life FILLED TO OVERFLOWING with joy!
Getting full gulps instead of the sips of joy and freedom I experienced in 2008.