karaspeak

Well the new year has come and gone and taken with it any hope of warm days here in Tennessee. That said, it's been an attitude adjustment to determine to be happy despite the gloomy, snowy, icy weather that has become our "normal" here in Nashville. It's a normal we don't like but one we have to accept for a time, or so it would appear. So our welcome to the new year has been plagued with ice and snow and temperatures below freezing. Not ideal for a girl (me) who is training for a half marathon in a climate that promises to be around 70 degrees on race day. If you don't believe me, too bad, but Phoenix is the hope of my new year! :) It's 16 days away and my nerves are already on edge as I line up mentally in my head each day for my training runs in bitter cold and wind. Hopefully the finish line will be worth the pain.

The other fun way to start out the new year was with work. (And by fun I mean awful.) After a low-key last few weeks of 2010 with lots of PTO, baking, eating, and family time, heading back to work wasn't on my fun list anyway, but January 3 all that was confirmed. I got a lovely phone call from my manager who let me know my employment was out of compliance with a policy and somehow I had been overlooked in the program process. I am 6 months in to an 18-month role. Anyway, it's too much to go into here, but basically I show up at work on day one of 2011 only to find out I'm days away from being job-less, when I thought I was months away. Eleven months to be exact. Not the way I was looking forward to starting the new year.

So all these "bad" things can leave one feeling pretty hopeless and full of self-doubt and other emotions, but I've had to rely solely on my Father to pick me up, change my attitude, and remind me of all the times in my past when He has come to my rescue. And believe me, it's been a lot! Each and every time He came, not with warning, but with provision. Not in my timing, but in His. So my hope, my rest, must come from the history WE have together, just me and Him. I'm confident He will supply all my needs and fulfill all my hopes and dreams in the meantime. It's just what that looks like that's scary. And by scary I mean exciting. :) So, here's to a frightful and eye-opening year. My prayer is all of you have HOPE in more than just what we see every day but also what we don't as it's hope that gets us through and hope that makes us stronger. "Be strong and take heart, all you HOPE in the Lord." (Ps. 31:24)