Thursday 1 January 2009

New Year's Resolutions


We have experienced our first New Year in Spain. We watched the clock chime in Madrid, watched as people ate their "uvas de suerte" ('lucky grapes': Spainards eat a grape for each chime of the clock at midnight). It was a relatively quite night...until midnight. At the stroke of 12, some neighbors in our building began screaming, beating drums, etc. I consoled myself by believing that in a couple hours it would all stop. The music, screaming and drums did not stop until well AFTER midnight! All four of us were in our bed (not by my choice) and no one was sleeping. It made for a lovely and friendly Carr family on New Year's Day... I considered knocking on the neighbor's door at 10:00 am (when the music finally turned off) and just standing there with my howling, melt down toddlers and thanking them for the lovely party.


We did hold a New Year's Eve service...at 6 pm. We have toddlers, we don't go out after midnight.


We used Isaiah 43:18-19 as our theme:


Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.



I used a video clip of the song "Seasons of Love" from "Rent". (I got lucky and found a Youtube video with Spanish subtitles!) In 2009 I have 525,600 minutes. I have 525,600 chances to see God at work. The part of the verse that struck my attention was that God implies that His new thing WILL happen, we just have to pay attention if we want to be a part of it. God is, always was, and always will be at work, it's just a matter if I'm 'perceiving the stream'. If I want to see the new thing, I just need to look for God.


We have challenged our congregation to take the next 180 days and give God a chance to "turn their life around". To take a chance to see God at work. We are participating in a 180 day Bible reading plan. I realized that in my own life I can come up with a million excuses for why I don't have enough time to do this, but I have plenty of time to facebook, blog, blog hop, Youtube video watch, etc. So, in order to remove some of those excuses, I'm creating a blog of my notes on the daily readings. I'm going to actively seek out the 'way in the desert' this year. (If you're interested in following along in my journey of 'turning it around', click here.)


So, Happy New Year! May you 'perceive the stream' in 2009!


5 comments:

Edie said...

Happy New Year Valerie! I am also seeking the "new thing" that He is doing this year and I'm excited about it.

My ADHD Me said...

Happy New Year!
You must be exhausted. Your neighbors aren't very considerate. :)

Kelly said...

Sorry it was a rough night. Here's to a great year, however!

2nd Cup of Coffee said...

What a tough cultural difference! I'm going to love visiting here this year.

Growin' With It said...

180....clever title and i'm inspired! the grape tradition sounds fun but the neighbors sound awful!