Happy New Year

Happy New Year to everyone in Blogger world and beyond. :)

I've been working on reformatting my computer over the last couple of days, and I've been going through all my files, documents, and photos in order to move and save them to a safe place.

It's so ironic that I chose this time of the year to do this.

Did you know that you can capture the past year just by looking through your computer? Well it depends on how you utilize your computer, but for me, it just so happens that it woked out this way.

I was picking and choosing which files to save in a safe place, and which ones to toss, when I realized I'd just relived the past year in a nutshell.

I won't make you relive it all with me, but I can say this... 2007 had it's share of ups and downs for me. It was a year of transition and change in many ways. It was also a year of mixed blessings. Sometimes, though we may not see it at the time, mixed blessings carry very powerful lessons, and they are positive in ways we may not see until later.

I learned, once again, to take the good with the bad, look for strength in both and learn to grow from both as well. It was a year that held personal loss, defeat, and heartache, as well as personal growth, triumph, and great joy.

It was a year of letting go. My son joined the Air Force and got married.

My daughter moved to Japan for a three year stay with her Navy husband.

It was a year of triumph. My mother was officially diagnosed as a breast cancer survivor.

A year of defeat. I had two short stories rejected, and have still never polished and submitted the novel that was requested by an editor at Kensington. I am still kicking myself for this, but I have not given up on it, and luckily, the editor is patient...

A year of personal growth. I returned to Pitt University to complete my bachelor's degree. I waited two years for this. I'd registered and almost started in 2005...

A year of personal loss. My dear Aunt Lydia passed away. I miss her very much.

A year of moving forward and digging deep to find triumph over challenges. A year of heartache, and yet, with God's strength, I learned to make the decisions I needed to make.

I even found some poetry I'd written during a spell in 2007 I'd have chosen not to relive. I almost refused to read it, and yet, guess what? I surprised myself. I read the poetry and where I feared I might feel pain, instead, I shook my head and (after laughing at the bad poetry) I was able to see how far I've come from those bleak moments. Life began to get better, and little by little, I arrived at the point where I find myself now. A point in my life where I've accepted the path God has laid before me. I have goals, and I'm working toward them. I'm peaceful. Life is so much better now, with more hope and promise than ever before.

I made the comment to some dear friends that as far as I was concerned, 2007 was the year from you know where and I was glad it was over. After thinking about it, I realized it was one of the best years I've had in a while for personal growth, understanding--of both my self as well as others--and learning.

As I said, sometimes, though we don't always see the positive side of mixed blessings, if we look closely enough, they are always there. You can count on it.

Praise God!

I hope everyone has had a wonderful wrap up of 2007, and I pray that 2008 brings appropriate blessings for all of us.

Happy New Year, friends!

Lee