Thanking God for 2010

I was sorely tempted to run a series of posts this evening, but I thought otherwise, because on a day like today, it’s all about relaxing. There is still enough time to reflect on the year 2010 and without going into great detail my recollections are as follows:

January: Having moved to Little Hulton at the end of December, this month saw me finally say goodbye to working at the North Staffs YMCA. On the blog I did the Law & Order series based on The Ten and I was pleased with how that went.

February: This was a very difficult month for me personally – not having a job and adjusting to life in Little Hulton as well as being flexible around Authrine as she struggled in the latter stages of her pregnancy. It is interesting to note how I maintained content on the blog during this time including some mini-series including the Exit Strategy Interview which was therapeutic for me and starting off the larger Is This What I Believe series. It was also during this month that I started a small audio series for a friend’s radio show, which is something that I hope to develop further in 2011 … but more on that next year.

March: God blessed me with a job for which I remain hugely thankful. Having work definitely helps set the mind in how to provide for the family and take care of those responsibilities. March is the month of going through Proverbs and that proved to be a very useful, inspirational and edifying process. It was also the first month that I had an entry in every day of the month which was a target of consistency I was hoping to reach.

April: This was of course the month of Zoë Anya Cheryse Dryden. After several days delaying her entry, she finally made her debut on Saturday 10^th April much to the joy, delight and relief of her parents and older sisters. So there was more family pressure with added responsibilities, yet in His faithfulness and the love of the 4-time mother I was able to maintain consistency with the blogging and having another pleasing little mini-series in the Quality of the Man – which I’ll hopefully update as I learn more.

May: If it was all about the new born in April, Abigail’s birthday and my Mum’s birthday had May covered. As Abigail turned 4 years old she continued her unwanted record of celebrating her birthdays living in different homes. Along with April and May, the Lord allowed consistent daily blogging during May and I was grateful for that as well as starting a series on my growth in learning about family. I started reading material from Frank Viola which rocked my spiritual world whilst correlating well with some changes I was going through, anyway. This month also ironed out some inconsistencies in the workplace which helped, although events were to transpire to change all that!

June: It was going too well. Got a job, settled in what I was meant to be doing in the job, getting some sort of routine in the new place, just looking to fit some other stuff in – but oh no. Time to move again – that was the essential decision we had made by the end of the month! This was also the month in which my beloved and I celebrated our seventh wedding anniversary.

July: Having just begun to recover from one traumatic upheaval of moving, we now embarked on another one that took us to our current place of abode. Thankfully He allowed us to get in safe and sound. Unsurprisingly the regularity of blogging suffered this month though I wasn’t to know just how much it would be affected in the four months after. New place, same job, different style. I was thrust straight in, but God gave grace to flex around it and settle there eventually. In other news, this was also the month in which Walter Hawkins passed on.

August: This was a month of further transition from the actual shift of property to now getting the family settled into the area and all that came with it. Work was still providing insight in how God works in this area much to my pleasure and I believe His glory. The blogging took a major hit as a result. I don’t regret it. It’s just one of those things and it was a good time to also be reminded of what are the essentials in life. Authrine reasserted herself as one of those essentials as she celebrated a key birthday in her life.

September: Dad had a special birthday this month and I was glad to pay tribute to him, whilst my sister also celebrated her birthday and wouldn’t be forgotten either.. Among other things that took place this month – the girls starting their new school and us finding out more about Bletchley, something happened to really disrupt the blogging. The house was burgled and among the items stolen was me mobile phone and me laptop! Not the most pleasant episode, but again a chance to say thanks to God that it was just goods taken and not lives. The timing could not have been more apt as it happened just as it appeared as though I would get back in the swing of things following the upheaval of the new home! Just before I was sent on enforced vacation from blogging I did manage to post a number of tributes given to the great Walter Hawkins.

October: There may have been a severe famine of blogging – only a few entries over the month, but I was still alive and active and really settling in especially at work where I was happy to take on some more responsibilities. This month is always significant as the birthday of my dear brother and I did what it took to recognise this crucial day. At long last the laptop was not only recovered from the people who had it, but it was returned to me to be able to get back to blogging and did I ever express gratitude for that!

November: I got back into blogging with a vengeance including a report on a return to Stoke-on-Trent. Upping the ante to not only blog every day but blogging twice a day developing a morning music/video slot and a longer reflection section for the evening. It was something I was messing with earlier in the year, but everything was right for that to become a part of me regular discipline in life and get the writing out of my system and online. I was able to give God thanks for my own birthday – hitting the crucifixion age of 33! Speaking of crucifixion I gave reason for the death of something close to me and the birth of something new at last. Without claiming anything special I also had the impression that at last we were beginning as a family to settle down in our new area.

December: So rounding things up we come to this month and it was one of rest and reflection as I was able to take half the month off with a holiday – which was great. I’ll share more on how I spent in an upcoming entry. The month was significant for me in choosing to turn the negative in a positive and spend it reflecting on who Jesus is – that was a good steer for the month and kept focus. Again with the birthdays, Deborah’s happened recently as did a special princess. Among them all, however, was the 5^th birthday of me blogging and I was happy to celebrate that in style … by blogging. So with the year winding down I was able to finish even stronger than I’d started in so many ways.

A Year In Blogging: So in looking back I realise that I’ve written quite a lot this year – more than any other year since I started blogging. I’m pleased with most of what I’ve written. It’s not been Shakespeare, but I’m pleased both with the growing consistency and quality – it is something I wanted to achieve at the start of the year and seeing progress, it’s something I’m committed to practising even further. Of the many blogs that I’ve posted I wanted to give ten in 2010 as a sample of what I’ve enjoyed writing about best this year – those five in no particular order are:

Missing the Point (03/11/10) – How it is crucial that Jesus Christ is the point of everything we are as followers of Him (gladly reinforced recently).

Nothing Beats Marriage (27/03/10) – A piece in thanksgiving to God for the concept of marriage.

I Digress – The Sin Condition: Prone To Wander (04/03/10) A companion piece to Missing the Point looking at how easy it is to be sinful.

I Struggle With This One (06/11/10) – Owning up to the struggles that marks the Christian journey and embracing it not as an end in itself but something that stops us from claiming completion or complacency in the journey.

Everything (12/02/10) – Reflecting on that place when you don’t have anything and you realise how Jesus means everything.

The Death of Christopher Dryden: Crosswords at the Crossroads (23/06/10) How the gospel means the end of me and the beginning of Jesus in all things.

So Jesus, What Have Your Done For Me Lately? (18/12/10) – Reflecting on the human condition in discipleship through the lens of a key episode in Jesus’ ministry.

The Truth That God Loves (16/05/10) – Addressing Christianity from a different perspective exploring it against its common expressions.

Bad Times As Good Times In Disguise (17/03/10) Looking at what the world and religious orders have told us about ‘bad times’ in contrast to what God says.

Because Who’s Worth It? My Problem With Self-Esteem (07/06/10) – An impassioned plea to get priorities right when we consider the human problem and divine solution.

Thank you Lord for all that’s happened in 2010 – to you be the glory, honour, power and glory now and forever.

For His Name’s Sake

Shalom

dmcd