On leaving 2010 behind......

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians 4:8

You know those Cd's you can buy with highlights only? I have one with Phantom of the Opera. It's what you buy when you don't want to hear everything in between the parts you really like. It isn't really fair because you are getting a cut and paste version of what was supposed to be a full story. Looking back over the past year is a bit like buying one of those cut and paste versions. Highlights rise to the surface, things I want to remember so I pause and turn them over again in my mind....they are important and I don't want to forget.

I know the old year is gone and the new one has rushed in to take its place, very fast I might add......but still I find myself wanting to pause for just a moment, still caught a bit in the afterglow of last year. So I share these treasures with you as I hold them dear, I clasp them to my heart and commit them to memory. I write some down so they will be kept safe, though I know they are etched into my heart forever and have already become part of the fabric of my soul.

Catching the dogwood in full bloom in Yosemite......a nature poetry book given to me by my brother with the inscription, "I love you more than you know...."with another note beside his favorite quotation......

Praying with my Dad in the dark of a very early morning.... Hearing my Mom say to me...."That reminds me of a day with you...." After listening to the song A Perfect Day....Cold walks in the park in the evening with my Dad watching my niece hang upside down on the bars....

My wonderful and amazing friend who made my "prayer closet" like home with laminate floors she toiled and installed herself......Helping my Mom get her decorations out for Christmas one more time....surprising my Mom and Dad with a sign on the downtown marquee celebrating their 60th Anniversary.

A full five minute conversation with my very excited niece of 8, words and phrases all jumbled together, but I heard the love loud and clear and I couldn't stop smiling because I have hoped and prayed for it for so long....I still hear it even now.

Conversations and good times with neighbors who have become friends.......a restored special friendship I thought lost.

Evenings by the fire and learning the hard way that you can't re-light fake logs without creating much black smoke! Being caught in the rain on first evening in Monterey during sabbatical and running into a cozy pub for a bite knowing I had two months off work ahead of me....with pay....oh the joy, where did the time go?

Well, there are a few of them....I am grateful to God for each and every one of these moments, knowing that He holds them all together and binds us all together in love. I can't imagine experiencing even one of them without Him in my life......Now make your own list, and see if you don't smile in the remembering.....

Oh it's such a perfect day,

I'm glad I spent it with you.

Oh such a perfect day,

You just keep me hanging on....Lou Reed

May your own 2011 be filled with many of those perfect days and God's comfort and strength when they aren't......I treasure each and every one of you my blogging friends and readers.

photo from my iphone, Pacific Coast Highway 1