So Long, 2008!

It’s that time of year when radio and television news stations look back on another year that’s about to come to an end. I’ve heard good riddance more than once. 2008 was the year of a sinking economy and massive bailouts, political scandals and a strident race for the presidency, forgettable movies and the death of Charlton Heston and Paul Newman. On the personal side for me, it was also the year my mother died.

We all have our own memories for this past year, but surely some must be good? I turned 50 this year. Oops, more bad news there. What’s good about reaching the half-century mark, with more than half of my life gone?

Well, for one thing Heaven’s closer so how can that be bad?

Every year that passes brings growth of some kind. Life is full of good times and bad, because that’s the kind of system God set up for us. We all long for good times but without the bad maybe we’d think we don’t need God any more. That might not make the bad times easier to bear, except maybe in retrospect.

I don’t do New Year’s Resolutions, but I do tend to get a little more reflective around this time of year. What would I change if I could change something in myself? Probably too many things to mention and still keep this blog of manageable length. But here’s the short list:

• I’d adopt my aunt’s breezy attitude about the many things that don’t matter as much as I think they might. Her favorite saying should become mine: However it turns out, that’s how we like it.
• I never pray for patience any more, because I’ve learned the only way to exercise patience is through the most unpleasant circumstances. Still, patience would be a wonderful virtue to consistently possess, don’t you think?
• I’d somehow love to be able to stay awake longer in the evening, when I do my reading. No matter how much I’m enjoying a book, I still tend to doze off after a chapter or so.

And speaking of books, this was a great year. The market might be tightening, sales might be shrinking, but the quality is definitely something to rejoice over. I read too many books to name here, but I’ll mention that I read books by my friends Siri Mitchell and Allie Pleiter and Judy Miller and loved them. I read some new authors like Nicole Baart and Jennifer Erin Valent’s Fireflies in December and loved them, too. I read a number of secular books including The Life of Pi and Water for Elephants and revisited some classics by Austen and Bronte and loved them, too. Reading is so important to a writer; without reading, the quality of my own writing would sink faster than the 2008 stock market.

The end of the year is also a time to look ahead, to reassess and hope for things yet to come. The first book in my new series will release in early fall, so I have all sorts of things to look forward to related to that. Pondering a new title and looking at cover art, some final editing and seeing the book in print. It’s my opinion that no matter how many books an author has published, it’s always a thrill to hold the latest one, all bound and ready. And as much as I love my Kindle, I hope we’ll always have bound books with their fresh paper and lovely covers complete with the touch and feel of a real book.

I’ll be starting a new project soon, the second in the series, and I’ll talk about that here in the new few posts. New projects are always exciting!

There aren’t many other times in the year when so many people have the same thing on their minds. At birthdays, perhaps, but at the New Year it seems everyone is looking back and ahead at the same time, so there’s a feeling of unity here. Whether we’re saying 2008 was a good year or bad, a new one is about to start, ready or not.

May your new year be better than the last, abundant with peace, a year in which ends are met, contentment found, love deepens and faith grows greater. For you, and for me.

Happy New Year!