Decade In Review

Have you seen the magazine articles on the “Decade in Review?”  I like to test myself on how many of the events I can remember.  I also like to consider how many of them seem to have happened longer ago than this decade.

What if you were to make such a list for your own life changes for the past decade?  Remember the turning of the millennium ten years ago?  Remember the fears that permeated society concerning the crashing of computer systems and general millennium mayhem?  What changes have come to your life since all of that?

In some ways it is difficult to remember what life was like even just ten years ago.  Things have changed so much that ten years ago is a distant memory.  Yet, it is important for us to do evaluations like this.  It helps us to remember “from whence we have come.”  It is an opportunity to pause and to give thanks for the blessings and positive developments which have entered our lives.  It is also an opportunity to reflect on the sustaining presence of God which has brought us through the things we could not imagine having to process and integrate into our lives.

In January of 2000 I found myself in a career gap with a very uncertain course before me.  By June of that year employment was a bit more secure but that necessitated returning to a structured and demanding educational program.  At the half-way point of the decade more vocational changes entered the picture as I returned to congregational ministry, coming to Bethany-Peace.  Then there were the family changes—big ones, or little ones as the case may be—two of them.  Katy and Elsa have come into our lives and a world of change was brought along with them.  There have also been less pleasant changes as several people in our family are no longer with us.

The new decade is not just a time to look back.  It is also an important time to look forward. 

What is likely to happen in your life over the next ten years?  What is likely to happen in the life of our congregation this decade?  It is impossible to paint a picture with much detail or certainty. Yet, there are some general developments which can be seen without much of a crystal ball.

I like doing this kind of exercise with my wife.  She adds a dimension to my own “futuring.”  I tend to consider things like career and financial issues.  She always focuses more on the issues of family and life stations of herself and those she loves.  I have my perspective broadened by her input and I am moved beyond myself. 

Take some time over the first few weeks of 2010 to do a “Decade in Review” of your life.  Give to God thanks for the blessings that you find.  Find assurance that God has been faithful to sustain you through all that has transpired.  Doing this will then prepare you to imagine the coming decade with confidence and assurance that God can and will sustain you through all of the unforeseen changes that are ahead just as you have been brought from the place you were ten years ago to the place we each find ourselves at the turning of this decade. 

As for me, I know there will be changes.  But knowing that God shall direct my way through all of them gives me not only a sense of hope but also a peace and willingness to engage and embrace each and every day that will be masterfully woven into the tapestry of God’s full purpose.