As I begin this post, the year 2008 has just three hours left. There is much about it that I’m sure most of us won”t miss, but the downsides of life are all too easy to focus on, and we need no reminding of them. Instead, I’d like to thank God for a few of the blessings with which he has filled my life this past year.
I thank my Lord Jesus for…
* My close friends and family. You know who you are. I treasure you!
* Keeping me afloat financially as I”ve gone about forging a new direction as a freelance writer.
* Awesome storm chases in Missouri, Kansas, and Iowa–and my awesome storm chasing partners, Bill, Kurt, and Tom.
* The simple, wonderful gift of good beer.
* My new DSLR camera, and how it is helping me to view the world with an artist”s eye.
* The gift of music, and of growth as a saxophonist and jazz improviser.\r\n* So many, many other blessings, some of which I’m aware and others of which I’m unaware. Such is the grace of Christ.
* Finally, but really first and above all, the Lord himself. For his kindness. For his friendship. For his discipline, and guidance, and for his life that has become my life.
Thank you, Lord, for this year of 2008. Above all, thank you for You.
To all who read these words…
…to musicians, and songwriters, and singers, and all whose souls have been shaped by the melodymaker’s craft…
…to storm chasers, and weather fanatics, and those who have fallen in love with the hiss of inflow over prairie grasses, and the convective sculptures of the Great Plains…
…I salute you! Here”s to a Happy New Year!
This evening, the sun sets on 2008. Tomorrow, for better or worse, 2009 dawns on us all. In the face of a troubled planet, may the grace of the Messiah spring up in unexpected places and cause this next twelve-month”s time to be a hopeful and rewarding one.
Wishing you blessing, prosperity, wisdom, inner peace, and a deepened capacity to live the life God created you to live,
Bob
Aka “Storm”
