As I lay here in my bed I can hear how it’s pouring outside, I mean the kind that you Thank God that you are inside in the comfort of your home.  Its 3:20am and its another one of those nights where I wake up and can’t sleep.  I couldn’t help but ponder on 2011 and how quickly it’s coming to an end.  Where did the year go?

I remember being in this same place at the end of 2010 and thinking the same thing.  However, I also remember sensing an unprecedented excitement about 2011.  I couldn’t pin point what it was but I remember going into it with great anticipation.  I could imagine the people of Israel also feeling this way about entering the promise land.

2011 had a “normal” start with goals and aspirations ~ anywhere from weight loss and healthy goals to relational ones along with spiritual ones.  The excitement was brewing inside of me at what God was going to do during this year.

Then out of nowhere the dreaded and unanticipated change or shift came about the middle of the year.  The shifts in our lives that bring uncertainty and changes in relationships that I had in “my” goals to grow and flourish.  I had to call the big man himself and say “Hey God what happen to “my” plans, didn’t you see what goals and accomplishments I wanted to do this year???”  It is almost as if I could hear God telling me…your plans are not my plans (Isaiah 55:8)  Furthermore, I heard His voice on multiple occasions through friends and through my spirit to just trust.

TRUST???  Are you kidding me?  How am I supposed to trust when this does not line up with what “I” had planned?  

Oh my friends, that is when trusting in the Lord is the most valuable to Him.  When we put our foot into the Red Sea without knowing, what the future holds (Ex 14:21-22). When we get all the empty jars in the house and borrow from our neighbors and trust in his provision.  When we know that we are pregnant with something that the world doesn’t understand.  That my friend is what trusting in the Lord truly means.

I have had to live through that kind of trust during 2011.

I decided to stick it through and go with the “flow” of the changes that He was orchestrating in my life.  Yes, it was my decision to follow and continue on “this” path.  I thank Him that I decided to follow Him and I am now seeing all the fruits of that decision.   He has opened doors for me that I never imagined for myself.  He has awaken dreams that I had placed in the back self of my mind. He has brought people into my life that have poured love into my life without truly knowing me.  He has strengthen our family unit in a way that I couldn’t humanly have done myself.

Were there tears along the way, OF COURSE.  Was there doubt along the way, OF COURSE. Were there fears along the way?  MOST CERTAINLY!  However, I had to make the decision to press through and trust. No one else can make this decision for you!

So my dear friend, as I end 2011 through the valleys and the mountains I thank Him for what He has done in my life.  Furthermore, I already sense that 2012 is going to be an even bigger year than 2011.  Will there be bumps in the road, OF COURSE.  Should I expect them, OF COURSE! However I should also expect Him to be with me every step of the way.  Perhaps cheering me on from the sidelines, perhaps holding me on a not so good day and perhaps carrying me when I am too weak and broken to walk on my own. But nevertheless, I will TRUST in Him.

I pray nothing but God’s blessings on your lives during this Holiday season that is of most importance to all Christ-followers.  Let us celebrate His birth.  Let us celebrate each other and through it all ~ remember to Just Breathe!