Everyone has top tens of the year -- yeah me too

As we close out the year, I am remembering an amazing year of new things and old.

10.  Swine flu part 1.  Yeah -- that was INTERESTING to say the least.  Having all of my kiddos at church that had school and didn't have school.  It was a riot and kinda fun.

9.  Youth Quake.  My junior high always love this event.  It is a mindblowing whirlwind weekend that helps kids realize there really is more to life than video games and mainstream music.  It is a weekend that .Jody and I always get to spend together.  He volunteers to lead workshops while I chaperone.  Probably one of the most interesting memory was taking the whole group to Herbert's Taco Hut.  My kids were scared of this rundown food place.  As we left, we got "wow, that was awesome!!!"  Really fun times.

8.  Schlitterbahn Christmas.  I still am amazed at the overpriced-ness of "entertainment."  That being said, watching Cade and Jody skid down the "bobsled" hill and watching Cade's light up with Santa and watching him on the Carousel made Schlitterbahn Christmas a FABULOUS family experience.

7.  Yarn Crawl.  There is no hiding the fact that I LOVE to yarn shop.  I loathe shopping for just about EVERYTHING else but what made the crawl THAT MUCH better this year was sharing the crawling with about 10 other people.  WAY too many yarn shops in 2 days but it was SO MUCH fun.  I got to take lives in my own hands making a Uturn outside of Fredricksburg.  I discovered the totally awesome yarn store in Wimberley.  Along with the Yarn Crawl I could also include the many knitting potlucks and get togethers over the year.  We laugh, eat, knit and just really have a lot of fun.  It is nice to have people that I can share interests with and call them friends.

6.  Swine Flu part 2.  Yeah, I got it.  It sucked.  Never have I lay motionless on a couch/bed for 5 days straight.  I had a yucky case of it.  I got way too comfortable watching TV.  I learned about dog snuggies (still think those are STUPID).  It helped me to see how sometimes slowing down will only happen if I can't do anything but.  (hard lesson)

5.  Certification School.  3 plus weeks at Lutherhill getting Certified in a profession I have now been in for 10 years.  I loved it.  It is still difficult to see myself as a life-r in youth ministry but I am.  I realized during that time just how called to youth ministry I was.  I reconnected with my calling and with God in one of the most sacred places in my life.  It was awesome.  It was reaffirming.

4.  ELCA Youth Gathering in New Orleans -- There were so many ups and downs, twists and turns.  It was crazy.  To look back and see the impact that a whole lot of high school youth had on New Orleans, it still brings me to tears.  To understand what we did in 4 short days, all I can say is WOW.  We really made a difference and had a lot of fun all at the same time.

3.  Christmas 2009.  My sister, 2 children, Jody, Cade, mother, father and me spent Christmas together.  This has never happened.  The last time Jessica and I spent Christmas together was probably 1996.  It was a wild and crazy couple of days but really was wonderful.  We had some fun memories and even funnier pictures.  Watching the 3 kids, all really close in age play together was alot of fun.  I wish it could have lasted longer.

2.  Climbing the rock tower at Lutherhill.  I am horrendously afraid of heights.  I do not like to not be in control.  I have difficulty with "trusting" others especially those that I do not know well.  When I found out that high ropes was a part of Cert School, I did not want to do it.  I hated the thought.  The fact that Pastor Ralph enjoyed the thought of me conquering my fears so much made me really wanted to prove to myself that I could do it.  I made it up part of the rock tower and then climbed the ladder straight to the top.  I hated not making it over the edge and actually going down the zip line but it took everything I had to make it to the top of the tower.

1.  Meditation and Prayer.  I have always felt connected to God.  I am a huge procrastinator.  Probably my most moving memories of the year have been those where I have spent time with God.  Spending time not worrying and not stressing, spending time in prayer over sick friends and youth, spending time concentrating on peace and love -- this has brought me closer to people I don't always get along with, this has brought me closer to my husband and son, this has reconnected me with a peace filled friend from my youth.  By making this intentional change in my life, I know that things will only go forward.


There are probably SO many other memories of 2009 that I could include in this list.  This really has been an AWESOME year of new and exciting things.  I know none of them are possible without my faith.

Peace and Love,
AMEN