So Long 2007...

AND GOOD RIDDANCE!

2007 is finally gone. THANK GOD. It was one of the roughest years of my life and will not shed any tears to see it finally past. I don't know what it is about years ending in 7 but I haven't had a very good track record with them: 1977, 1987, 1997, and 2007 have all been terrible years. I'm not going to say that things couldn't get worse in 2008, but they would have to try pretty darn hard.

I'm sorry I have been gone so long. With the holidays and my Grandfather's sickness and death, it has been a hectic time and I just haven't felt much like writing. The other blog that I have been managing has lain dormant since December 13. I feel terrible about it, but some things just can't be helped. Hopefully the coming days will bring stronger motivation to write again.

There have been some good things that have happened during the holidays. I was able to take a trip to the mountains fishing last weekend and caught another very nice fish. I got to spend time with family, and once again, I have seen God's hand of provision on my behalf. 2007 was certainly a year that saw much of that. In 2008 I hope to move from the place of waiting for the ravens to the place of abundance. The locusts devoured much last year, and it will take abundance to undo the work that they have done to my house. (Speaking metaphorically.)

Still, I am glad that the holidays are finished. I don't think that my body could take much more of the rich foods that the holidays bring, and I am ready to see things sink back into a greater sense of normalcy. Of course, the stores are already putting out Valentine's Day junk.

We sure have some stupid holidays in this country - New Year's Day and Valentine's Day topping the list. I have never seen the point of either of them. Sure enough, I'm glad for the day off on New Year's Day, but it is a day of no meaning for me. Valentine's Day is extortion day.

Men are expected to buy overpriced flowers, candies, etc and take their significant other out to a swanky dinner. How sincere can it be, knowing that you will be in trouble if you don't participate? Why not send the roses and go out to dinner on the 15th when it will be easy to get a reservation and everything will cost half as much? Can anyone honestly attest that flowers given on Valentine's Day are as special or appreciated as flowers given on April 3rd? But I digress. So far I have been fortunate to not be obliged to perform on February 14.

I don't look forward to the nonsense of the political campaigns of the coming months, but in most other ways I am looking forward to this year optimistically. Hopefully it will be a year of breaking out of the leanness of '07 and moving forward into the promise of '08.

Happy New Year.