As the year 2009 comes to a close, it’s a good time to reflect back over the past year and also look ahead to what may be on the horizon for 2010.

For a number of years I have kept a prayer journal. I record the burdens of my heart and ask Almighty God for guidance and help with challenges that I face daily. A few years ago I started looking back over the journal at the end of the year and was amazed at the number of answered prayers. Now I always begin the new year with a list of reasons to be thankful.

I began that process this morning before coming to work. In just a few pages of my journal from 2009, I realized that God had brought healing and restoration to my broken ankle, granted travel mercies to my husband on his mission trip to Vietnam and brought my nephew home safely from his tour of duty in Iraq. Each of these were serious concerns that I had asked God to help me with. In each case, He heard my prayers and answered them in loving and positive ways. He not only answered them, but answered them beyond my expectations. We often forget to thank God for the good things He is doing in our lives. December 31, 2009 is a wonderful time to let God know that we are grateful for the mercy and grace He has granted us on a day to day basis throughout the year.

As I write these words, I am reminded of the 10 lepers who were healed by Jesus. Each one of them received the same healing, at the same time, but only one returned to Jesus to offer his gratitude. I’m sure the other nine were grateful, but they didn’t express their gratitude to the one who healed them.

Allow me to share with you my praise and thankfulness to God for what He has done in my life in 2009. Thank you God for hearing my prayers, thank you Jesus for loving me enough to die for my sins and thank you Holy Spirit for your continual guidance.

Knowing that God is good all the time, I realize that whatever may be coming in 2010, God is already aware of and will continue to be my guide. I love the words to the song, “God will make a way.” He does indeed work in ways we do not see and He waits for us to ask for His guidance and direction as we overcome the obstacles that clutter our pathway.

I leave you with this passage from 2 Timothy 1:12. “That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day.”