The year of the goat

So, here I am at the end of my year of joy....no, this year is not listed on the place mats at the cheap, all-you-can-eat, Chinese buffet.

There were many things that I have learned this year.

First I realized how much I hate the word 'journey.' I just wanted to arrive at joy....you know, someone telling me how to get there...."take a left past the BP station and it is there on the left." But I found that I could not just hurry up and drive to arrive...

Side note....last night my 16 year old daughter, Becky, was learning to drive in the dark down the curviest, narrowest road around, Short Shun. It was just a little before 6 pm and we were coming from Nicholasville to Wilmore. We had just started down Short Shun and suddenly there was a car hard on our tail. I mean that it was so close that I could not see the headlights on it. Becky says, "Wow. This car is following me closely." The car begins to flash its headlights at us. Becky asks, "Can I slow down please?" I say, "Sure." The speed limit is 35 mph. She had been doing 30 mph, now she slows down to 25 mph. I smile. The obnoxious car begins to beep at us. Becky slows down to 20 mph. The car then begins to flash lights, beep and ride a little closer on our tail. This person finally passes us illegally and flies up the road. It turns out they were heading to church.

So, back to my journey to joy....that was the visual of me at the beginning of the year. Driving like a crazy person.....flashing my headlights and beeping my horn.....in a hurry to arrive at joy. I was like that driver, I did not realize that my journey is part of the whole process. See, when that a-hole pulled into the church...he totally lost his credibility as a "christian" because of how he journeyed to his destination.

I thought 'joy' was my destination.....where I wanted to arrive at, what I was striving for. That it was the end of all....but I now realize that it is not my destination....no! All throughout the year, I kept asking, "Are we there yet?" But there is no "there" to get to. It is a process....a journey! But not a journey TO joy....it was my journey OF joy.

Now, what will the year of 2010 be? The year of the goat?