Last Post of the Year

Tonight, I was talking with someone about 2017 and I told them I didn’t have anything real big plans for the year. I realized that if I had been talking about 2016 a year ago I might have said the same thing. And, oh how wrong I would have been. Mostly that’s a good thing.
 
It would be easy to list all the things I did in 2016, maybe even do the year end top ten list. But thinking back, what stands out are the people in my life and how my relationships with them changed during the year.

The biggest change was my relationship with Dad. Although I believe that you can still have a relationship with someone who has left this world, it is a lot more one sided. I’ll always miss him.
 
I was in a relationship with a woman earlier this year. That came to an end. She was a good person, but it wasn’t meant to be.
 
I was elected to the Governing Board of my church last January. It’s been good to getting to know the other Board members better. I’m proud to serve with them.
 
I travelled to Tanzania with a group of 9 other people. I had only known one of them before our first meeting. They turned out to be a fantastic group of travelling companions. And the people of Tanzania were wonderful. I was talking to a teacher at Bomalang’ombe school and he said he would like to meet me again. I told him I felt the same way. But I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to go to that school if I return to Tanzania since it is in a different area than Kidamali. But I told him we will meet again, if not in this world then in the next. He gave me one of those big Tanzanian smiles and laughed.
 
Even though my daughter was married twice this year I only gained one son-in-law. But he’s worth two, so I’m glad he’s a part of the family. I had the chance to meet his parents and several of his brothers at the various weddings. Wonderful people all of them. I am so pleased that our two families have connected.
 
I also gained a grand-niece when my niece Sarah had a baby girl in February. She’s a cutie. It was good for the Anderson side of the family to grow this year.
 
We went up to the North Shore this summer. My parents were there and for different parts of the week, most of their children and grandchildren were able to come and spend some time. I am so glad we could to do that for my dad before he passed away.
 
I’ve also been developing a relationship with the readers of my blog over the last 6 months. Weebly tells me the number of page views and unique visitors for my blog. For page views, I was averaging 21 per day for the first three months. For the last three months, I’ve been averaging 31 per day. So, I am honored to have been included in your readings. I appreciate your comments on the blog and to me.
 
I find the emotion that I am feeling the most about my relationships as the year draws to a close is gratitude. I am very thankful for the people in my life. I pray that you will all have a blessed new year and will develop a closer relationship with your God.
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