2009...

I always feel a bit reflective when we have change... especially something like a new year. I mean we celebrate the new year every 365 (or sometimes 366) days but the expectations surrounding it might lead a newcomer to believe it doesn't happen so often. We just spent the last three months preparing for Christmas and already we've moved onto a new holiday just a week later. I haven't written about much of anything the last few weeks as I've been a bit occupied.

After my trip to Florida at the beginning of the month, I went to Colorado with our women's basketball team for a few days. The team played two games but we still made time for plenty of sightseeing. I really enjoyed getting a tour of the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. I feel like it just breeds greatness... their theme is "amazing awaits." I wrote about the trip on our website www.mumonarchs.com If you have a whole lot of free time and didn't get enough entertaining reading material for Christmas you can click on women's basketball and read all of my witty blogs about the sights from Colorado. I talked a little about "amazing awaits" but it stems from a Maya Angelou poem called "Amazement Awaits" and I just really left there wanting to go back and revive my athletic career. Instead I spent the weekend watching college athletes strive for their own amazing.

I came back from Colorado and after a brief stop to exchange luggage I flew to the Bahamas. Most people have already scoffed witholding any pity, but it was a work trip! A company Sport Tours hosts college basketball teams and they hired me to do the stats. Fifteen DI, DII, and DIII women's basketball teams competed with 15 games in three days. Now don't get me wrong I found a couple hours to hit the beach but someday I'd like to go back on my own time. It was a trip of stretching and growth along with a slight cold but I made it back to the U.S. safely.

I spent a week at home on the shore and tried to soak up the "free" time. I still tried to see as many people as I could but I was in great need of rest. I did a lot of reading and a little work but I also wanted to just appreciate Christmas. The commercialization can become overwhelming but I'm so grateful for the "reason for the season." I went to church with my family on Christmas Eve and one man sang with his three sons. Before he sang he tried to tell a story and I think he questioned his delivery, but I liked the idea. He was explaining how some frogs or toads got stuck in a draining area in his yard and it was too deep for them to jump out of on their own. He tried to help direct them, to "rescue" them from their fate in the drain but he realized how much easier it would be for them to understand if he could become a frog/toad and explain it to them. In the same way, God sent Jesus to become like man and rescue us. Sometimes we can still be so stubborn and not always embrace the rescue... but this Christmas... I just want to embrace it.

I'm back in Fayetteville and just welcomed in a new year. I look back at 2008 and know there were so many lessons to pull out of it as I look ahead...
... pride comes before the fall
... most things don't last forever
... mississippi brings rest
... God still doesn't give us anything we can't handle
... houses are expensive... even after you close
... balance the work and social life but integrate the spiritual
... don't run in high heeled boots
... cherish the people in your life as they don't last forever either

Sometimes I get so caught up looking ahead that I miss out on what's in front of me. And sometimes I get so caught up living in the moment that I forget what's ahead of me. I pray that this year I figure it all out a little bit better.