The Retrospection Projection

This is my year-end blog post, where I recap, reminisce, ponder & project…

2018 was nothing spectacular, I mean nothing major happened in my life, it was really comprised of a bunch of little things:

December/January: On New Years Eve, I was in a car accident; it was snowing heavily, visibility was about two feet, I ran off the road & hit a tree. Both my car & myself were a little banged up but we both survived & I spent the first few weeks of 2018 indoors w/ vertigo. Ever since then I've been a bit skittish about driving in the snow & at night. I'm hoping for a mild Winter this time around… but I am grateful to be able to walk away from an accident & this year I've not taken anything for granted.

April: On Good Friday I accidentally dropped my Passport external drive & lost all my genealogy research stored on there: 40+ years of records, writings, stories, maps & pics that were almost ready for publication. I was heartbroken & numb for a couple of weeks, however, I got over it. I re-learned that things in this life are temporary… yes, the loss was great but I decided to eventually start over from scratch so in my spare time (whatever that is) I've been picking back up on it. One of these days I'll get it together & get it published…

May: I finally had it out w/ my power mower; I had almost pulled my arm out of my socket trying to get it started & when it finally decided to start, it screeched & wailed like a banshee when the cord continually got stuck so I permanently & quietly, retired it. Well, my (as well as my elderly neighbor's) lawn still needed to be mowed so I pulled out the old, vintage Craftsman push reel mower that's been in my family for five or six decades, cleaned it up, adjusted the blades & went to work on the lawn. It was wonderful, so quiet, so soothing, so eco-friendly... the lawn looked even & manicured. I'm not going back to power mowers, ever.

July: The Lord had dropped in my heart the idea of acoustic worship services at my fellowship w/ a small team of people who weren't regularly active in the Worship Team, so I submitted the idea to the leadership & it was [surprisingly] received. So once a month, on the third Sunday of the month, the Acoustic Team gives the Worship Team a break & it's been good just getting back to basics, just two acoustic guitars & two singers; at least it gets me out of the sound booth! 

Note: Don't get me wrong, I don't mind serving, I don't mind helping out in the sound booth I just don't want to get burned out doing it & trust me, I'm starting to feel a little singed. On a month w/ five Sundays I'm in the booth three of them because right now we just don't have the coverage & can't pull anyone from anywhere else… but I'm believing for God to send us some sound people, some video people, some drummers & send them soon. 

August: I finally had the chance to do something that's been on my heart for a long time: The Mayberry Bible Study. When the leader of our Men's Group had taken a contract out of town, he asked me to lead the group for a few months until his contract ended in December, so I introduced the MBS to the guys as something that was different, fun & refreshing. So many things connected w/ “Church” are so, so serious = classes, worship, sermons, discipleship, etc & this was something that was lite & non-threatening. We simply meet, watch an episode of The Andy Griffith Show & discuss the Biblical & moral lessons from that episode then end in prayer; it's that simple. Oh & we laugh too!

September – November: I've been cleaning up things at the church building & painting some rooms to be used for teaching & you know what? I enjoyed doing it. On top of that, I gave the Music Room a makeover, it needed one. I'm very happy w/ it now as it's cozy & cozy leads to creativity. The room is also ready for some video/live video stuff. The only thing I have left is to have a few of the guys frame out a vocal recording booth then it'll be 100% done! 

Before

After

Before 

 After

Yeah, I've been busy...

December: My little brother became a grandfather. I remember when my brother was born... when he became a father for the first time... & now, there's another generation on the scene. I'll be honest on two things: I'm happy for him & his wife, this is a new era & they'll be good grandparents, spoiling him & loading him up on sugar just before giving him back to his mother; secondly, I do at times wrestle w/ feeling old & alone. However, it's hit me just how much God is my source, my supply, my focus & my life. When the loneliness hits, I simply say out loud, “Father, You're my source” & suddenly my focus changes. As I grow in grace I find I'm more content... If I don't have someone it's because, obviously, I don't need someone. If I need someone, God will supply them. You either believe that God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus or you don't, it's that simple. 

So, that sums up 2018; it's been a year of change & I'm hoping that 2019 will bring even more change & promise to my life.

I have some goals for 2019:

This Winter I need to lose about 40-45 pounds & trim up before Spring hits; if this mild Winter continues that's a realistic goal.

Along w/ a couple of solo CDs I'm slowly working on I'd like to get a couple of CDs recorded of the musicians in the fellowship, one of those being a Christmas CD of songs in the public domain; interest & scheduling are major factors in any of these goals… 

Vlogging, music videos & video stuff are a very real possibility.

I do hope to have a Kids Music Room in place at my fellowship by February/March 2019 & that'll be nice for them; a place to put on the headphones & bang on the keyboards to their heart's desire…

I need to work on being more social. I don't like big cities, I don't like big crowds & I'm not crazy about parties but I need to really make the effort to get to know more people & to interact.

There's things to do, people to serve, CDs to be recorded & Wintry roads to be avoided.

Methinks 2019 is going to be okay.