The Year That Was

It's 4 in the morning on the last day of 2010. I'm still trying to wrap my head around this year. It's been INCREDIBLE. So much has happened and I've changed so much I barely know where to begin to describe all that has happened over the course of just a year. Charles Dickens said it best when he wrote, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us..." This helps to somewhat sum up all that I've experienced this past year. I spent half of this year in "the winter of despair" before reaching the "spring of hope". I grew so much this year out of everything that has happened. I am not the same, nor will I ever be. That's one word that can sort of describe this year: change. My views, my personality, my friends, my interests, my perspectives, my ideals, my goals, my dreams, I changed. Paradigms shifted, my eyes opened, the clouds lifted, etc. The big factor in all of this was and is God. I am not exaggerating in the slightest when I say that I have experienced God in a more real way than ever before. It's too hard to even begin to describe here, but I am a new person. I guess if I had to pick one quote to sum up what this year has meant to me, I would pick my all-time favorite verse, Ecclesiastes 3:11, "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end." This year has been truly beautiful, and I will watch it close with the hope and confidence that 2011 will hold even more wonderful surprises.