“Wherever you are, be all there”

On paper, my 2014 appears somewhat unremarkable. By Facebook’s standards, my “year in review” would look utterly ordinary.  I have no change in ‘relationship status’, new family member or grand foreign adventure to speak of. Nor have I experienced any great loss or life changing upheaval. I didn't even remember to fill my blessings jar beyond January.

I am living, working and studying in the same places as 12 months ago. 5 years ago, had anyone told me that this is where I would be; still single, still studying and still living in shared accommodation...well, I wouldn't have been best pleased.

Yet here is where I am.

At times it feels as though I am stuck. There are days when I look at my life and it seems almost mundane. Yet I know that, in those moments, I am looking not at what God has done in my life but at the lives of others. As I zone in on their lives, the burden of comparison seems to cling more closely and I lose sight of Him on whom my eyes should be fixed.

As I look back on 2014, really look, I see all that God has done.

“This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” – Psalm 118v24

Not only today but all 364 yesterdays. Days in which strands of sorrow found their place in the tapestry of grace. Days in which memories made were too precious to need the validation of a “like”. Days in which it was through mundane moments that life’s bigger blessings became known.

There are many things, both fleeting moments and longer adventures, for which I am incredibly thankful. As I flick through photographs and reflect upon memories I see much to smile about.

New friends. New depths to old friendships. Hurdles overcome and new paths tread. In each of these, God’s hand was at work. And for each moment I wish undone, that amazing, wondrous grace already wipes clean the slate of guilt.

Indeed, it is often when I look back on the fears and frustrations that I see not only forgiveness but the fruits of God’s work in my life. In times of trial I was taught to trust and through loneliness I learned to listen.

My 2014 was not marked by great life change. But I do not remain unchanged. The Potter has been active in my life; that mighty right hand smoothing and shaping at a pace He knows to be best.

What lies ahead I do not know. But in His hands I am not crushed or destroyed; I am guided and supported. As I remember the nails that pierced Christ’s hands, I am reminded that my sins’ punishment is paid, my way to the throne made clear and that my hope for tomorrow is bright.


So, as I stand at the start of a new year, I resolve to “be all there”. To enjoy time spent with friends, however brief it may be. To grasp hold of blessings as they come. To focus on what God gives to me today.