2010 Reflection

Last year I summarized 2009 with a few highlights, so I decided to continue the trend...

What was the single best thing that happened this past year?
-I had a tie last year and who'd have thought I'd have another this year... without stating the obvious, I direct you here and here.

What was the single most challenging thing that happened?
-I really don't think I could pick just one - keep reading...

What was an unexpected joy this past year?
-Let's revisit this post again shall we... we knew we wanted to start a family sooner than later, but we definitely thought it would take a littler longer.  We figured with a 25ish% chance each month that we'd be announcing news um, around now.  So while expected, still definitely unexpected.  ... and we are beyond grateful that it happened and that we have a healthy baby to soon introduce!

Pick three words that describe 2010.
-My words for 2009 were: Growth, Nurture, Dedicate.  I think for 2010 I'll stick with Growth (see above), and add Transition and Love.

What were the best books you read this year?
-I read lots of books in 2010, but the best - for many reasons - is the Bible, and I'm not just saying that because of what it is... there are some really good stories in there and reading it in 'order' helped connect a lot of dots.  I'd love to explore why the Books are arranged the way they are... I would imagine I'd just have to ask Chan.  I read NLT's One Year Chronological and was amazed at what I learned.  I enjoyed it so much that I plan to read it again in 2011.

With whom were your most valuable relationships?
-I'm sticking with Chandler again this year.  In one year we built a house, planned a wedding, moved, said 'I do,' started new jobs, made a baby, paid off some debt, saved a lot of Franklins, and if that's not enough, we found out we may be losing a job, I lost my first grandparent, Chandler lost his last... Quite a year.  Looking back, I have even more confidence in our relationship and its strength for anything that may come upon us in the future.

In what ways did you grow emotionally?
-See above.  And I've somehow managed to keep it all together. 

In what ways did you grow spiritually?
-I started using my journal to record moments of gratitude and prayers.

In what ways did you grow physically?
-Need I state the obvious?!

What was your single biggest time waster in your life in the past year?
-Facebook, it apparently has the same properties as heroin.

What was the biggest thing you learned this year?
-I learned first hand how quickly moments pass us by; I learned there is beauty in darkness; I learned gratitude in raw form; I learned strength and patience.

Word of the year...
In 2009, I decided to choose a word that would be my focus for the year.  My word for 2009 was dedication.  For 2010, I chose two words that worked together: simplicity and contentment. 

It would be a complete disservice to neglect Chandler's remarks from last year when asked his word for 2010:
"Chandler's word for 2010 is birth. I laughed at him so he changed it to creation. Umm...it should be an interesting year! ;)"

Needless to say he stuck with his theme pretty well I'd say.  Creation indeed!  Birth was pushing it... I'll have to be sure to ask his word for 2011 before he sees this post!  There's no telling what his 2011 word will be...

I haven't chosen a word for 2011 yet.  There are two that jump out right now.  I'll plan to post my word on New Year's Eve along with my 2011 goals.

Bible 365 - Done!

I tried to find the post I wrote about how I was reading the Bible in one year.  I know I wrote it... but I guess I didn't.  Not sure what happened there.  I alluded to it in this post, but apparently that's as far as I got.  I ordered a One Year Chronological Bible sometime in 2009 and decided that 2010 would be the year I read it.  Up until April, I'd been really good about reading it either ahead or right on time and then got a little behind - and caught up.  In June when we found out we were pregnant, I fell behind.  I caught up and fell behind again... I was determined to finish before 2011 though - some days I'd read two weeks worth of readings... two days ago - I finally finished! 

I plan to read it again in 2011 and this time I plan to underline, take notes, and use my reference book as a parallel to NLT.  Thankfully, Chandler is a super geek smarty pants and retains all sorts of information so I've been able to ask him lots of history questions this year - he is equally excited about my enthusiasm about using a reference book this next year of reading.  See, you'd think it's because I wouldn't bug him with questions, but when I announced my plan his response was, "Oh that's great, I love looking at the maps from back then..."  Super geek Smarty pants indeed!

I think after 2011's Bible 365 plan of NLT, I may get another version to read for 2012.  In 2009 I read The Message translation - if you aren't familiar with it, I highly recommend it.  I bought a small faux leather copy from the bookstore and took it with me in my day bag pretty much everywhere so I could read it - if you can find a chronological version do it - mine was a regular version and I would have loooved a chronological one! I had a blast reading The Message (seriously!) - many parts of it read like a soap opera, no kidding.  The Message is more or less the most opposite of King James as you can possibly be - unlike most translations, The Message takes the theme or idea and rewrites it in everyday language.  Or street lingo is probably more fitting.  There are some parts that would definitely be rated PG-13 if not R.  It was a great introduction to reading the Bible though and the gospels were very vivid and made it easy to relate to what Jesus was experiencing.

So 2009 - read The Message, 2010 - read New Living Translation, 2011 - NLT again, 2012 - ?.  I've already been scoping out children's Bibles for a good One Year/365 version.  I have two contenders, but haven't decided yet.  I figure I have until 2012 since OP will be so young next year.  And even though I doubt he'll really be paying much attention in 2012, it's never too early and he must love books - it's not optional at our house. 

What are you reading?

My new favorite reference book

I got this AWESOME book from Thomas Nelson a couple weeks ago and cannot put it down! I realize this is self-proclaimed nerdom since it's a reference book, but it is sooo good! It should be noted that I'm a complete Bible reading novice though - so everything in this book is helpful to me. There is an overview in the beginning of the book and then it is divided into 'chapters' by the Books. This arrived in the mail as I was finishing Job as part of my one-year chronological Bible reading plan, so I immediately read the chapter about Job. I couldn't have imagined a more helpful book. Since I am reading chronologically, I have a lot of questions about the timeline of things. My Bible is an NIV study Bible and I LOVE that it has some commentary at the bottom of the pages, but that still leaves a lot to figure out for Bible-dummy me and I love, love, love how this book takes over and pulls things together.

I'd previously been reading What the Bible is All About by Henrietta Mears and I thought THAT was my ticket but this book is even better! It's also more up-to-date in terms of things recent scholars have said, etc... so it's nice to read with some modern snippets.

Not all chapters have maps included, but there are all sorts of charts and timelines - including lineages! I have learned even more with this book and I think anyone who has a true interest in studying the Bible would enjoy it.