01.01.10
New Years’ Morning, 2010
Well, it’s here! A new year, and a new decade. I doubt
that I’m alone at these times; don’t many of us sit down
and reflect on a time frame that has passed, and look
forward to a new one arriving? And, don’t we all have
to wonder, at least a little bit? Here’s why I ask…
When the infamous Y2K was approaching, many were
alarmed. Remember that? There were dire warnings of
power grid failures, computer networks that would all
mysteriously shut down, etc. Many began to buy and
store foods, bottled water, the necessities of life. We
weren’t all that concerned, frankly, but it made for an
interesting time. I remember saying to Carol as 2000
dawned, that with my parents in their 80’s, this would
likely be the decade when I’d say goodbye to at least
one of them, and maybe both.
And, before the first half of the decade had ended, I’d
said goodbye to both of my parents and Carol. When I
look back on my life in mid-2005, I honestly don’t even
recognize the man I’d become. In some ways it seems
like it was decades ago, and in other ways, it’s like it
was last month. Years - and decades - become life’s
defining time periods; dates never to be forgotten,
always to be remembered. Some are happy ones - to
graduate, get your drivers license, marriage, births of
babies. These are the dates you’ll never forget. But,
each of these time frames may also bring the harder
dates to remember, and to be honest, the 00’s (how
on earth do you say the last decade?!) brought me a
mixed bag…the defining sadnesses of whatever will
remain of my life, and also, some of the best.
We really do have an amazing God. His ways are simply
mysterious, and beyond both our knowing and our ever
finding out. He gives, He takes away. And in it all, we
can say “Blessed is the name of the Lord”. I had a very
graphic reminder of this just yesterday, here in Orlando.
I was with Dawna - the girl that has just blessed our
lives in new, exciting, and different ways. With us is her
son Glen, and I never knew either one of them - or our
older son Darren - when Y2K rolled around. Darren will
be married this coming Spring to a wonderful girl named
Caitlyn. With Dawna has come more family to love, and
a whole new set of friends. And, two professional coach
drivers were in Orlando as well yesterday - Ramon and
Loren Aspenson, my brothers-in-law. I’ve always loved
those guys, and my in-laws from marrying Carol. We met
Ramon and Loren as we returned from a long day in the
recording studio, picked them up at their hotel, brought
them back to our condo here for dinner, and had so much
fun visiting. It could have been awkward…there they
were, two relatives from my last marriage, meeting the
lady who - in a sense - has taken their oldest sisters’
place. But, instead of awkward, it was wonderful. They
loved Dawna, and she loved them. They accepted her
into our extended family, and she did the same. Life is
a bit of a continuum, isn’t it? As I said, each decade
seems to present the fact that God gives, and, He also
may take away. I do know that Carol would have been
delighted to have watched our few hours with all of us
gathered together.
To me, this illustrates a broader and deeper picture…
This family of God’s is an amazing thing; a living and
thriving building, always changing. Some leave, some
are added, but one day, the whole of it will be complete
and finished. We’re utterly imperfect here and now, but
one day, we’ll all be exactly what we wish we were now.
It’s honestly pretty impressive.
And so, we begin 2010. I know that many of you who
are reading this are worried…I am too. While I wish I
were less political and thrived less on current events,
I am who I am. Economically, we’re in real trouble. If
our nation, the US of A, were a corporation, we would
have long since been bankrupt. We were promised that
by now, unemployment would have been way down, but
it grows. I can remember exactly one action by our cur-
rent President that I approve of, and the inexperience
of this Administration seems profound. Many of my good
friends are without work, stuck in mortgages that have
turned on them. Terrorism and violence are a daily fact
of life, it seems. There’s far more than enough to make
many frightened today. But yet…
The same great God is still in charge! The great Archi-
tect of human history is still at the helm; Captain of a
great ship that points in the very direction that He has
dictated since time began. Yep, there really is a grand
continuum to it all, and He has allowed us to “cheat” a
bit and read the last chapter of the Book. And, we win!
No matter what the human uncertainty, He gives us the
most blessed certainty and security available anywhere;
one day, we will be with Him, like Him, and a joint-heir
with His Son of everything that is His.
And so, who but our God can say - maybe, just maybe,
this will be THE year, or THE decade! Soon the clouded
sky will split, and in company with every saint who has
gone ahead of us, an innumerable company of angels,
and the saints of all the ages, He will appear. We will
leave the troubles of this planet to meet HIM, and our
loved ones, and our faiths’ heroes. I can’t answer for
you, but it sorta makes me a happy guy today!
Happy New Year, my friends. And Happy New Decade!
It may indeed bring us a mixed bag of memories, but
above all, it may just bring us our Savior. May these
thoughts encourage and bless us all on this special day.
“Maranatha!”
Blessings,
Alan