the little owl project

So my 365 is at an end, after just about 365 days, i guess. How does one sum up a year? How do you pull all the threads together and try to work out whats new and different and what you've learnt. More to the point why would anyone else care?

Well here are some reflections anyway...

The 365 idea was to record one moment or moments each day that were cool, that made you pleased you got out of bed and thankful for God's goodness. And it seems that most of mine revolved around people. Things people said and did and things we thought up together. Now i enjoy and appreciate a good sunset and pretty clouds as much as the next person, and i would have loved a 365 filled up with that. But it wasn't to be. But i think thats ok. We were made to be in relationships with God and with his people. We weren't made to be on our own in a little box. And i'm thankful i've got so many people who shared the last 12 months with me. Thats cool. So i guess thats lesson number one. I really need the people. As much as i enjoy spending time on my own, i really need the people. And thats cool.

I guess in some ways you could say that its been a pretty good 365 days, having something cool or good to write at the end of each day. And in some respects thats spot on, it's been a year full of God's goodness and grace in the little things. But also, there have been moments that haven't been that great, and i've clearly always been keeping an eye out for the diamond in the dust. Also, i'm pretty sure that once my 365 was having a coffee! But seriously, this year, leaving Reading, has been marked probably by more lonliness and isolation than most others. Moving to a new town and starting new job is the opposite of easy...But God's kept me going and kept me faithful. More or less everything else in my life has changed since May last year, except my most important relationship. Jesus has kept me faithful thought hard times and good, meals with friends at wagamamas and days where i didn't have a conversation. He is the rock and centre of my life, He will never change. And thats cool.

Things could have been very different in my 365 if decisions had gone different ways. If i hadn't vome to Guildford, if i hadn't found such a good church, if a million other things. And sometimes i wish that some things had gone differently, and sometimes i was glad they went the way they went. But one thing i've learnt above everything else, is that God really is working all things together for the good of those who love Him. Things could have gone diffrently in a lot of different ways in the last 365 days. But i'm glad they didn't, and i'm thankful for the the way they went and the things they've taught me. For the things He has taught me. And thats cool.