tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7674016135108707034.post3010458014183165915..comments2012-01-19T15:57:36.027-08:00Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08019187519810116317noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7674016135108707034.post-13085671274376071402012-01-19T15:57:36.027-08:002012-01-19T15:57:36.027-08:00@MamaGriffith: Thank you, my friend! It is a blessing to exchange words across the miles. Hope you are safe and warm this wintery week!Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08019187519810116317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7674016135108707034.post-81551277224249796182012-01-19T15:56:13.437-08:002012-01-19T15:56:13.437-08:00@chris: As usual, you&#39;ve hit on something important here--this aching for the old year to linger, it really is a gift. In fact, I wanted to write it as the final item on my celebratory list here but couldn&#39;t find the right words. Because, yes, what I&#39;m really longing for is more of Him. And to have lived a year where He&#39;s knocked me clean over with His Presence, that is something beautiful and glorious, something to be celebrated wholeheartedly. I&#39;ve never felt this way at the end of a year before, always instead feeling like I really needed a fresh start, like I wanted to try again to get it right. But now all I want is *Him.* And, oh, what Grace it is to only want *Him.*<br /><br />And thank you for reminding that in a year so full of Him, there were just as many hard days as ever before. So there&#39;s no need to fear them now because they won&#39;t keep Him from coming and filling and making everything beautiful.<br /><br />And I am always deeply grateful for the prayers. You have been Grace to me these last months and &quot;thank you&quot; seems small. But I offer it anyway, knowing that sometimes the small &quot;thank you&quot; can really change the world.<br /><br />Grace to you, Friend!Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08019187519810116317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7674016135108707034.post-47235787036958978372012-01-19T15:47:43.749-08:002012-01-19T15:47:43.749-08:00@tinuviel: I love your description of the library! I can hear the crackling fire now--and, oh, the smell of all those books! Smiling here just thinking about sitting there by the fire tip-tapping away at my blog posts.<br /><br />And I am so glad you chose to read my humble offering of 1000 gifts and offer your voice here in my corner of the world. You have been nothing but joy to me and I&#39;m praying for God to be oh-so-near in the coming weeks, that you&#39;ll come to know Him ever more deeply as you work through the current challenges He&#39;s brought. May God give you Grace for the journey, Strength for the hard days, and always always more of Himself.<br /><br />And your prayers for me in 2012? Yes. YES. Just--thank you. Much love to you, Friend!Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08019187519810116317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7674016135108707034.post-58291991185123141362012-01-19T03:52:49.860-08:002012-01-19T03:52:49.860-08:00like Tinuviel, i came to this post late. in a way, i&#39;m sorry that on the last day of 2011, you wanted to hang on to the old year, and in a way i&#39;m not. if you had simply been wishing the new year would never arrive--because you anticipated it with fear and dread--that would be awful. but you were wishing that the old year would never go away, because it &quot;held things too beautiful and glorious for words&quot;, and &quot;held more God than any of the years before.&quot; It&#39;s wonderful that--despite the hard things in your life--your 2011 was so blessed! i think that what you were really wishing for was not more 2011, but more of the God and the grace 2011 abounded in; and as you say, God and His love await you in the year just starting as much as they awaited you at the beginning of the last one. yes, fresh starts can feel &quot;empty and unfamiliar&quot;,and it may be hard to believe that the coming months can be as God-permeated as the ones that came before. but last year had its hard patches too, and the same Love that saw you though those ones, will see you through this year&#39;s as well.<br /><br />what Tinuviel prayed for you, i do too...chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16673834639722877016noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7674016135108707034.post-17528140493790576022012-01-17T18:16:16.905-08:002012-01-17T18:16:16.905-08:00&quot;There&#39;s no end to Me. This brand new year? It can be full of Me, too. I&#39;m always waiting, willing, longing to fill up every last one of your days. Will you let Me?&quot; Thanks for that. May I keep that thought in my own heart.<br /><br />I read this yesterday in my feed reader but came back today to comment. The blog makeover is beautiful! Very rich, like a manor library where there would be leather wing chairs, a fire roaring, and shelves so high they demanded a rolling ladder. :)<br /><br />You and God had much to celebrate this last year. He is beautiful in you as you honor Him and give thanks. I&#39;m so glad to have met you through Ann&#39;s link when your list reached 1000! You are a blessing. May the Lord grant much regained strength, healing (inside and out), sense of home, and joy in 2012.tinuvielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06462001159262770932noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7674016135108707034.post-31660086481172410442012-01-17T15:48:28.917-08:002012-01-17T15:48:28.917-08:00Beautiful words as always Courtney.MamaGriffith,http://www.blogger.com/profile/07176114313068025458noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7674016135108707034.post-3385474768715367012012-01-17T14:58:31.512-08:002012-01-17T14:58:31.512-08:00And I love *you*, Dear Friend! I thought perhaps a warm brown background would be a nice pairing with the cold days of winter. It&#39;s snowing here today--wish you were here to see it!Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08019187519810116317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7674016135108707034.post-23805928882640379312012-01-17T14:56:55.412-08:002012-01-17T14:56:55.412-08:00Thank you for encouraging words! As a writer, I know well the difficulty in conveying life in words but somehow it never stops being hard when I can&#39;t write His Story. But this writing out of the reasons to celebrate 2011, it&#39;s helped me feel ready to start hoping for 2012. So glad to hear He is speaking to you as well and I pray you&#39;ll come to know Him even more in the months to come. Grace to you, new friend!Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08019187519810116317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7674016135108707034.post-10767765680827180152012-01-15T23:50:30.309-08:002012-01-15T23:50:30.309-08:00Love you Friend, your beautiful works, and your new Blog Backdrop!Clumsy Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06801138855203138784noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7674016135108707034.post-61985194137718130402012-01-14T21:26:23.409-08:002012-01-14T21:26:23.409-08:00A list of all the things you are thankful for helps write your story that God has written in your heart and life. Sometimes it&#39;s hard to put what you feel into words. I had an aha moment this Christmas season from reading a couple devotions and then i heard 2 messages on Christmas eve and day brought another growing/learnable moment into my life I wish to share someday. When I put it into words. Thanks for sharing and just take one day at a time, step by step, with Jesus. It&#39;s great when we listen and wait and learn and grow! Hugs!Grandma Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04362600588981799211noreply@blogger.com