Christmas can often be quite a difficult time - I found this one especially hard. As usual I returned to my parents' home - which often feels like I've stepped back in time 10 years or something.I was meeting up with some old friends who I'd not seen since last Christmas and I knew I'd have to repeatedly deal with the rather leading question... "so, what's been happening in your life this year?" Often I think this is just asked so the questioner can tell you about some exciting news they've got or how amazing their life is at the moment. It was with this in mind (especially since the ending to 2006 turned out a bit crap) that I was rather anxious about this Christmas.
Obviously there's been loads of things happening in my life over the last year - however on the surface, I feel that very little appears to have changed in my life in the last few years - you know the things I'm talking about - the sort of things that are included on those awful family Christmas letters that get sent out telling everyone just how wonderful their children are... I deliberately made a point of not reading any of them this year as I decided it would not be helpful for me.
The problem I'm realising is that I too often try to live my life according to God's will whilst still trying to keep a very tight grip on everything - including timescales - which can lead to disappointment and confusion.
Therefore my challenge for 2007 is to try to get on with the things in my life that God has set on my heart - but to trust Him more and not be constantly glancing at my watch or comparing myself to those around me... we'll see how it goes - I'm not that confident!
Struggling a bit at the moment as I desperately try to understand what God is doing and why He's doing it this way... I can't help but feel it would be so much easier if sometimes we were able to catch just a glimpse of His bigger picture for our lives...
My personal DNA report - actually fairly accurate...
