The First Post for 2010

We've spent a quiet first day of 2010 which is nice.  New Year's Eve was spent with friends.  We are a group of 4 couples - all of us married to the same people for 30+ years, all of us with adult children, some of whom are in Los Angeles,  some of us with grandchildren, all of us affliated with education, either as teachers, librarians, principals, or bus drivers - and we gather just about every New Year's Eve for dinner and conversation.  We turn on the Times Square coverage about 11:30, pour some champagne or other sparkling wine, toast the New Year, and then all  head for our respective homes.  Every year we group-call our West Coast children at midnight to wish them Happy New Year from their future and we pretend that we've had much more to drink than a sip of champagne!  It's fun!  Last night was no different.

Today was leisurely -just husband and me.  I cooked a beef roast and made some garlicky mashed potatoes, and we each had a glass of merlot.  Now it's time for TV, reading, knitting, or even napping!

I haven't made any resolutions and I haven't gone back to reflect on the ones I made last year.  Here's my hope though for this year:  Many more leisurely, relaxing times with my family, my husband, and my friends.  

Happy 2010! 

Changes

I went to a meeting at church Thursday night - actually it was 2 meetings, back to back. I'm the co-coordinator of a ministry team, and have been for a long time. At both meetings I publicly announced that it was time for me to step down from this leadership role. I agreed to stay on for a couple of months more, until a new leader could be found. This is a HUGE step for me. One of the blessings (yes, really!) of having been stopped in my tracks with pneumonia is that I finally admitted to myself what I'd been denying so long -- I'm at the burnout point. Matters came to a head a few days before Christmas when I was asked to provide the names of the folks who would be participating in the lay-led Christmas Eve service. I had a major meltdown. I had been "out of commission" since 11/28, had not gone to the Dec. 6th meeting where the service was discussed, and had assumed that it was all taken care of. And of course, folks at the meeting assumed that by the time the service details needed to be etched out I would have been back in the swing of things. It was one of those times that was nobody's fault, and it was everybody's fault - we all made false assumptions, and with the hecticness of life and the fact that we're all overburdened, nobody had double checked. I am deeply grateful for my co-coordinator! When I called her, crying, she took right over and fixed everything. But it was a good lesson for me, and I realized that I needed not to be in charge anymore. I need to stop and be nourished and nurtured for a change. I needed to be the receiver, and not the doer. I've been feeling pretty empty spiritually and I realized that it's because I never stop and just be. So, while I don't make resolutions, I am making changes. I am going to BE for a while, so that so that I can take the time I need to listen to the Spirit, to be filled up and refreshed from the Well.