I still use an old-fashioned paper date book. It divides into months that present the current month at a glance and then each week of the month spreads out over two pages to allow for more detailed planning. I bought a new book for the coming year and I sat down to transfer all the important dates for the coming year. This coming year will make 34 years of marriage for my husband and I. My oldest grandchild will turn six this year and at some point in February I’ll add grandchild #8 to the mix called family. As I looked through my 2011 book for these dates I realized that these date books are a nice compact presentation of my life. I had to wonder if I had more to show for my year than a book full of scribbles, meeting dates, travel times and birthdays.
Today the devotion from My Utmost for His Highest had the Bible verse from Isaiah 52:12 as its foundation.
“You shall not go out with haste … for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.”
Taking time to look back on this past year has been good. The last day of 2011. The year flew by with great speed. It seems like yesterday that I was welcoming the new year in. Now it is gone and with it go many opportunities, some taken and some missed, some good choices, some bad choices, happy times, not so happy times. Maybe looking honestly at this past year allows me to do some real soul-searching. Then I look at my new book.
2012
New
Unblemished
A clean slate lies before me, a life/calendar free from complications and obligations. Okay, mostly free from complications and obligations. What about opportunities? Will I take them? Will I look at my past year and learn from it and step out when I should, and stay back when I should? The verse in Isaiah is a good reminder that we don’t hasten out of a year without reflection on it. But we go forward knowing that God goes before us AND he remains behind us to keep the past from condemning us.
It’s new
It’s good
“Leave the broken, irreversible past in His hands, and step out into the invincible future with Him.” ~ Oswald Chambers
The View From Here 