I had misplaced my fountain pen that my brother had given me for Christmas and it was not sitting well on my heart. Not only did I like the pen, but it was a special gift and losing it was horrible stewardship of this great gift.

This fall I read A Praying Life by Paul Miller and now I’m re-reading it, and one of the things that he emphasizes is that we need to come to our Father bringing the messiness of life. We should be like children and just blurt out what is on our hearts and minds. We cannot be ashamed for what we ask. God simply wants us to ask.

So I went to my heavenly Father and expressed my dependence and helplessness in finding the pen. I prayed knowing that if God wanted me to have that pen, then He would reveal it to me. The request seemed silly, but that lost pen was weighing on my heart.

Tonight, God answered those prayers and I found the pen in a pair of pants from earlier in the week. The recovered pen was a big reminder that God cares about the small things.

Thank you for the moonlight;
For oh what a grand sight
It is to see the frosty snow
Upon the mountains which no
Earthly hands have made
But were divinely laid.

Thank you for the tender rays
Of the moonlight that softly says
That One above is watching near,
While we sleep on a night so clear.
Cold inside and out,
If you we are without.

A couple weeks ago, John Piper linked to Ray Ortlund’s blog and I have really benefitted from his posts. Tonight, he posted on how praise befits the upright. I really appreciate the tie analogy.

A frowning church is ugly. A praising church is beautiful. Think of a man wearing a great suit, with the perfect shirt for that suit, but then he puts on a killer tie that makes the whole thing pop. That’s what praising God does for a church. A spirit of praise beautifies everything.

Boom.

What if I never see 2011?

What if this was my last year on this planet?

If this was the case, how would I live in 2010?

I do not know what God has in store for me in this coming year, but I want to give everything I have to the gospel and to the glory of His name. This ambitious claim will probably not result in doing anything that will make the history books. It will not be the path of the well-known, but the path of unknown. It will not be the path of the popular, but the path of the unpopular. It will be the path of self-denial – which will not be comfortable, but it will be satisfying.

If I do not live to see 2011, I want to be able to say that 2010 was a year of repenting of sin, relying on the Holy Spirit, and rejoicing in Christ, for the glory of God.