Expecting a Surprise

The year 2014 went by so quickly.

Suddenly she's gone... and all I have to hold on to are the memories of the events...

And the lessons.

So thankful am I for the lessons that each year leaves behind.

If I learn my lessons well, each year leaves me a little bit wiser than before.

And for this day's post, the first day of the new year, I have borrowed a line from Henri Nouwen's Bread for the Journey as my title.

It was years ago, when I was still the principal of our church school, that an intercessor walked into my office asking to pray for me. She was a foreigner, and I no longer remember her name. But one line in her prayer stayed with me: "Father, may she always have an expectation of good things coming into her life."

Really, that prayer changed the spiritual climate in my life.

That prayer has never left my heart.

And today, as another new year starts, I must be honest that I am not quite ready for another year. Things happened so fast, faster than my heart had time to process what was going on. And a part of me feels like I haven't left 2014.

Nevertheless, one has to face reality. The old year has gone... the new has come.

And that prayer is really just all that I have to hold on to for the moment.

Father, this year, may I always have an expectation of good things coming into my life.

Here is what Nouwen has to say about expecting good things to happen:

Each day holds a surprise. But only if we expect it can we see, hear, or feel it when it comes to us. Let's not be afraid to receive each day's surprise, whether it comes to us as sorrow or as joy. It will open a new place in our hearts, a place where we can welcome new friends and celebrate more fully our shared humanity. (Bread for the Journey, January 1)