Turning points and milestones

            No one can deny that 2017 has been quite the year. I have a hard time believing that it's already over. I've seen and heard several people claim that 2017 was one giant nightmare that needed to end. Personally I think that all good things must come to an end. I will admit that normally I could have cared less about the changing of the year. It usually just means that I spend the first three weeks of the new year writing the wrong date on papers. However I believe that 2017 will always hold significance to me.
                  I vividly remember what I was doing this time last year. I was passed out in a hotel after assisting my dear friend get hitched. (This sounds like I had a wild time. Nothing could be further from the truth. I am and always will be a crotchety old lady who hates staying up late.) I was exhausted and I clearly remember thinking to myself  "The new year will be here when I wake up." and I deliberately turned off my phone so that I could avoid well meaning messages for the new year. I did not toast the new year, sing a song or kiss the closest schmuck to me.  Probably the most scrooge like way to start the new year.  Despite the complete lack of enthusiasm displayed on my part; that new year marked a turning point for me.
                I think everyone has these moments in their lives. An event or decision that significantly impacts their future. (for better or for worse)For some people it's milestones like graduating high school or getting married. Significant events in the game of Life.  For myself  I can think of only three turning point moments in my life. Things that only have significance to myself.  The first was when I accepted Christ as my savior. That moment of bone deep terror and certainty that if I didn't choose salvation that night I was not going to wake up the next morning. (fear of God is powerful motivator) The second time I actually remember the date. June 6th, 2006. Oh the irony.  I was at summer camp and everyone was convinced that something astounding was going to happen. Arrogant cocky brat that I was I deliberately said that this was going to be the most boring day in history simply because God has a twisted sense of humor. I was right about one thing. God does have a twisted sense of humor. That night he slapped me down with the hammer of shame and told me to get over myself. These turning points in my life are the only times I've experienced true fear and are also the only times I've clearly felt God's direction for my life.  So last new years was the third time I've been given clear directions but that time was not accompanied with threats to my life but instead with peace and excitement; which was a novel change of pace for me.
             So 2017 was the year I took by storm. I took the feeling that I could conquer the world and ran with it. I spent most of 2016 frustrated, angry, and bored. I was stuck and I knew I was waiting for something. You my reader will never know the relief I felt when God finally gave me a heading. The fear that I was wasting my life was replaced with anticipation for my next big adventure. God did not disappoint me either. 2017 was a whirlwind from start to finish. Meeting new people , cutting out old ones. Scrambling to discover the difference between stamps because government bureaucracy is ridiculous. 5 million passport photos and learning more about flowers than I thought was possible.  Watching everything fall apart so it can fall back into place was a humbling experience.The bible says ask and it shall be given  you. Seek and you will find, knock and it shall be ope unto you. Goals that I've been striving for since high school are being met. This year has seen dreams realized in ways that only God can make possible.  I will definitely remember 2017 with bewilderment if nothing else. 
                Here's to 2018. I have no idea what's in store for me but I have every intention of attacking it with as much enthusiasm and pigheadedness (mitigated by God's grace of course)  as possible. I encourage everyone to do the same thing.