Better is the End of a thing....

Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.
Ecclesiastes 7:8

As I approach the end of my vacation in Santo Domingo I start thinking, “Why does it seem I always just start having fun when it’s time to go”? My mind takes me back to a whole lot of experiences in my life that prompted the same question. It seems that’s just kinda how it is. I think of the times when the party just got started at curfew, when I was just heading out of the door of the party and my favorite song would come on, when I just started making good friends and learning my way around town and then I had to move, when I just got my groove going on a job and it ended or when I just got to know a person and they transitioned….. it was just getting good! Such is life. If we believe what the word says in Ecclesiastes 7, it only makes sense.

As 2011 comes to an end, I am not without thoughts of previous challenges--as with all years.  However, the END of the year brings a smile on my face.  I think of how my year started and can’t really say it was bad or good. I’m not one to give thought or power to experiences that some would call negative.  I always say, “It’s all good”.  The reality is, it's all GOD.  Whatever experiences I have had in 2011 have moved me in the direction I’m supposed to be going in.  I try to keep my spiritual, moral and personal GPS in line with what God has mapped out for me.  If I am to believe that the various turns my year has taken are those He has orchestrated, then I have no choice but to keep following his direction.  I often say, if your spiritual GPS is always saying, “Recalculating”, then you need to stay His course.  Don’t get me wrong, I have had some “Recalculating” moments in 2011 but when I realize I’m off course, I quickly remind myself that it’s not MY will; it’s His.

So, as I reflect on 2011 and push forward to 2012, I am EXCITED!  I sit here at my laptop in beautiful Santo Domingo, DR and can only be grateful for ALL God has allowed me to do, experience, enjoy, participate in, develop, oppose, direct, support, reject, etc.  It has been a great year! I reflect on how I started 2011 and how I’m ending it and can only say it has gotten better and better.  I welcome 2012 with high hopes and expectations. I trust that it will begin well and end well regardless to what experiences or challenges come my way. Keeping the faith and following God’s GPS reassures me that no matter what the course, it will always end well. Better is the End of a thing than the beginning thereof…..

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!