It's a New Year

So, I have gotten some phone calls about the newsletter being left out of the Christmas card giving.  I apologize people.  Please don't make me feel anymore guilty about the fact that I didn't send one the year that we bring our son home.  I have decided to write our letter here for those that check it regularly but NOT this post.  I just don't have the motivation right now. 
I did want to share something else though.  With the New Year I also reflect on the year that past.  This year was a year of adjustment and transition.  It was a year of me, personally, letting go and allowing God to prove Himself trustworthy and good despite my struggling with the path He has led us down.  I'm so glad I didn't allow fear and Satan's schemes to keep me from obedience.  I honestly measure my years in spiritual growth. There was a time when it never entered my mind to think this way but after the year my Mom passed away I grew so much and went so much deeper with the Lord, that just thinking of what the year brought reminded me of where the Lord had brought me. 
Our Church here in Memphis has issued a spiritual challenge in 2012.  There are certain "disciplines" they are urging members to master this year as a way to prepare for missions and a general life of ministry.  There are some pretty rigorous challenges and first I was not compelled in the least to be a part. But the Lord working on my heart convicted me in some areas and I decided to pray about and practice the ones the Lord impressed on me.  One of the disciplines I've decided to take on is reading the bible in a year.  I decided to read it in chronological order and came across a bible that is a 365 day chronological bible.  Already I've been refreshed with having read the Word daily and knowing that God's Word never turns void and my heart is soaking up what it needs.  Today something struck me while I was reading and I wanted to share this passage,
"This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind.  Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.  Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on earth."
Gen 9:12-16
It's amazing that today I can still find a rainbow in the sky.  A sign of the covenant that God made so long ago between Him and man.  It's the very nature of who God is and the characteristic that God has shown me in 2011; Trustworthy.