Hello 2011, it was wonderful to meet last night.

It seems only fitting that I brought in the new year in a manner nothing like I'd planned or expected. But, it also seems fitting that it was wonderful, fun and done with a few great friends... some I've known since the days of learning to ride bikes, some since first crushes and heart aches, some since the discovery of callings and the setting out for destiny, and some since the journey became real and the dawns came with decisions.

2011- a year of adventure. Of challenges, but growth. Of transition out of one thing and into another. The start of more. The start of it all. 2010 taught me many things. One of the greatest, to not judge according to my plans, but to leave room for bigger doors to be opened and greater dreams to be accomplished than I ever thought possible. This year, I learned how to dream. I learned that to carry a dream in your heart, means pain, trust, and perseverance. To carry a dream also requires that we not suffocate it by our own understanding of it.. but to allow it to grow into what it was meant to be. Dreams are not from our land, but another place entirely. Therefore it should not surprise us that we very rarely know how to accurately identify them, and that very few indeed know how to care for them. We often think there are one seed, and yet they bloom into a very different design entirely. To carry a dream is to carry something that has never been seen in it's mature bloom. Each one entirely new, entirely surprising. And the best way to care for it, is to recognize that it will need to be fed and watered by many (and not those you might think), and allow it to grow into what it is inside the seed... not boxing it in to some small dark box of what you thought you bought when you made it's first purchase.

Yes, I've learned to dream. I've learned to carry this dream. I've learned to let this dream carry me. And I've learned that I know very little. And the little I know, I hope to learn how to do this year, 2011. I think 2010 was the preparation for the journey, learning to follow... we will see where I am led in 2011. But I think it of little coincidence that Pastor Norm called 2011 a year of adventure. (I also think it perhaps meaningful that I am starting this year by reading of one of the greatest mythical, literary adventures, The Lord of the Rings.) First He stirred the desire for adventure in our hearts. Then, He taught us that the adventure is never in what we think we are setting out for. Now, He's teaching through literature and stories how one goes about on an adventure. Or so, that is what my little heart believes it is seeing in these days. I must believe that a story can be used to prepare us for our greatest adventures in life - or else, I cannot spend myself to write such tales.

Oh 2011, you are so mysterious and handsome. ;) I do believe we are going to have a remarkable time together, you changing me forever, and I dare to say: me, you.