Cocktail Twenty-Twelve

Life is a cocktail of the mundane, important and tragic. This past year has been another turbulent year, but I am grateful for how it has ended. Peace rules my new home, compassion permeates each conversation and laughter rings throughout. Work is performed diligently, right behavior is valued and honesty is absolutely a must. I couldn't be happier. And I am loved unconditionally. Finally.

The landscape of relationships in January 2012 were very different than what they are now. Over the months of this last year, heartfelt promises have been broken, hard-won trusts suffered betrayal and closely-guarded selfishness has been held to a higher priority than the difficult task of unconditional love. Required  and long overdue decisions needed to be made and executed, and I pray that all will benefit in the end. For I can say without doubt that I waited upon the LORD and His wise and loving direction. He was (and is) faithful.

I thank the LORD for the relationships that have proven themselves golden and valuable in my life. I thank Him for provision, protection and for blessed healing. Broken hearts can take such a long time to mend, it's true. However, when healing comes from above, it is swift and lasting. Baruch HaShem!

Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, 

and he saved them from their distress. 

 He sent forth his word and healed them; 

he rescued them from the grave. 

 Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love 

and his wonderful deeds for men. 

~Psalm 107

The birds flutter outside my kitchen window not even knowing that one day is marked 2012 and the next 2013. Juncos, finches and chickadees (my favorites) arrive every morning to choose the seeds of their liking from our hanging feeder. Nearby, the hummingbirds are still coming to sip the sweet nectar that Lisa prepares for them. They all just keep coming as long as we keep food available for them; little do they know that they are providing so much entertainment and peaceful respite for their benefactors standing on the other side of the glass. I wonder if the Almighty feels the same about us. We cannot be as entertaining and cute, in my estimation.

Sasha spies on me while I'm snapping pics...

I thank the LORD for a wonderful place to live and for the others that share this home and life with me. I thank Him for the birds that come to visit and for our little, grey, furry friend that keeps me company while I type away on this computer keyboard. (Her life is also different as the year turns...we rescued her from the pound a couple of months ago.)

souvenir from our recent trip to the Oregon Coast

I am grateful for time passing. I'm grateful for cameras, music and excellent writing. I'm thankful I made it through my first quarter of college with good marks. I'm grateful for travel, a comfortable hotel on a stormy night and midnight walks on the beach with those who want to spend time with me. I'm so grateful for love...and time...and life.

I'm thankful for family; for the personalities and smiles, for the memories and passed-down mannerisms. I'm thankful for hugs and tears, late-night talks and quick texts that tell me someone is thinking about me. I'm thankful for all my family, blood and adopted - for they are all the same in my eyes and heart. I'm thankful for those the LORD has brought into my life this past year, even if they decided they couldn't stay. I wish they would have, but I'm sure He knows best. I do hope they know I love them, always.

I'm thankful for provision; for good food to eat and for grocery stores and restaurants everywhere. I'm thankful for enough money to buy what we need and even those things that just make us happy. I'm thankful for the little things - mechanical pencils and umbrellas, lattes and snowman cookies, fleece sheets and sweet things that make me feel pretty. And history. I'm so thankful for history. (Really glad I don't have to live it again, though.)

A house is made of walls and beams; 

a home is built with love and dreams.

I'm grateful for learning and to be in a place where study, discussion and pontificating is accepted and expected. I'm grateful...oh-so grateful for the wisdom the LORD has afforded me through the various ways He has chosen.  I'm grateful for experience, revelation, scripture, and for those who write and share what they have learned. I'm grateful for good professors, for those who share their knowledge online and for prophets, both old and new, that step forward to say what needs to be said regardless of the consequence. I praise HaShem for them and will continue to turn my ear and watch for them to reveal themselves and their message to me and others.

I'm thankful that we are gifted with a new year. I'm grateful for each day, every hour and hope to appreciate the moments I am given. I thank HaShem for a healthy body, for a brain that is always seeking more and for love overflowing even to the point of pain. Yes, that kind of pain I will gladly endure.

I am grateful for those that appreciate my cooking!

* * * * * 

This song sums up the year and is a special song for me. Not only did my beloved mother love this song (and it reminds me of her), but it marks the beginning of a wonderfully new and loving relationship in my life. I couldn't be more blessed...in fact to simply say I'm blessed would be a gross understatement.

May the LORD of all bless us with a safe turning of the year, 

as well as continued provision and protection throughout the coming days of 2013. 

Blessings and love to you, my friends...
always.