Happy New Year!

I hope you all had a meaningful Christmas and a safe New Year.  We rung in 2009 by letting Gabriel stay up till midnight.  We watched Wall-e and then shot off poppers on the front porch at midnight.
 Today we took down the Christmas Tree and many of the decorations, played Chinese Checkers, and went for a nature walk in the greenbelt behind our house.
 We ended the evening with Hoppin' John Soup, which I understand is traditional in the South, as it signifies prosperity.  

I feel more optimistic about the New Year than I have in several years.  Usually I am just glad to have survived the holidays, worn out and with little to look forward to.  This year I actually have goals I can feel invested in and lots of fun things planned.  Today I was reading in my Bible in the book of Romans, and came across this verse, which I saw in a different light:

Romans 15:13  "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."  I have never described myself as overflowing with hope (Quite the opposite!) but this year I actually have a fair amount of hope.  I think it has to do with growing through the rough patches and discovering more of myself and who I really am.  It has to do with having the courage to act on my new knowledge of myself and craft a life that is authentic to me and my values and interests.  I am sure there is more wrapped up in this, but I am still contemplating the topic.  

I wrestled with the idea of sharing my goals with the world on this blog, but decided against it.  They are still in flux.  In normal years I make goals and then forget about them in the first month.  But I'll try to share here when I make steps toward accomplishing what I'm dreaming about this year.