Closing Time - One Last Call

For the past several days (months, actually), I've had this deep-seated desire to update this blog (primarily to document life events for our family), but every time I sat down at the computer to write, I had "writer's block" and just couldn't get started. It's crazy really because I LOVE to write, and I've always found it therapeutic for me to share my own life experiences as well as those of my family; I don't know what the deal has been. When I first started blogging (or whatever it's called now--I just watched "White House Down", and the little girl in it said it's not called blogging anymore. Huh! Guess I'll be Googling that later...), I was never at a loss for words, but lately....well, not so much. ANYWAY, today I woke up with a line from Semisonic's song, "Closing Time" in my head, and it has inspired me to at least attempt an update. So without further procrastination or rambling, here goes:

"Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end"--always loved that line, although some have said that it wasn't really written by Dan Wilson of Semisonic but instead by Seneca the Younger (the younger what, I have no idea. Clearly, there's more Googling in my future.) As 2014 begins, though, I realize how quickly 2013 both began and ended. I can hardly believe that 2013 is now in the history books; it was certainly one which I had looked forward to with excitement and anticipation! We had three major life events in 2013 that we knew were on tap at the end of 2012:

• a February surprise trip to Paris to visit Blair and Ron to celebrate her 30th birthday which was by the way, our first trip ever out of the country together (and a most generous gift from Ron)
• the June arrival of our 2nd grandchild, Wesley David, to our son, Taylor, and his wife, Portia, joining older brother, Carson
• the October wedding of Blair and Ron in NYC which meant another memory-making trip for our family

Getting to experience any ONE of those in any given year would be reason enough for anyone to feel incredibly blessed, but to get to experience all of them within the same year is almost more than my heart can stand! When I think back to this time last year and my excitement over what I knew that 2013 had in store, I am even more amazed at how clueless I was about the hidden treasures that the year would reveal:

• an overnight trip to London as part of our trip to Paris (these two bumpkins got more than we could have ever dreamed out of our overseas trip)
• the August announcement of the March 2014 arrival of our 3rd grandchild, Jordan Caroline (yep, our first granddaughter!) And in case you're wondering, this will be the first child of our son, Jeff, and his wife, Sarah.
• Jonathon's continued progress in regaining his guitar skills (something we've been praying for and encouraging him to resume) 
• the extended family we gained as a result of Blair and Ron's marriage--such a bonus!
• the countless other blessings that I know I'll wish I had listed here that will come to mind the minute I post this--ha! At least I'll have more content to blog about--or whatever you call this.

Yes, 2013 was a very good year, another new beginning that has now come to an end. The older I get, the more I learn to appreciate that every year I'm given on this earth is a blessing; actually, I'm learning to appreciate that every DAY I'm given is a blessing, so as we all begin 2014, let's make each day one of thankfulness for God's grace and mercy and praise Him for giving us yet another new beginning. HAPPY NEW YEAR, ALL!