2010

2010 was an interesting year. And I cannot praise God enough for it.

Seeing as 2008-2009 were probably some of the best years of my life (those were the years that I first truly met Him), God made 2010 a year of tearing down.

Wow, wow, wow, stop! You must be thinking: “Gabe, why the negativity?!” But I’m not being negative at all. :) I’m being truthful and honest, and I don’t think 2010 could have been done in any other way in God’s grand plan for my life. Certain routines and connections in some of my closest friendships were “torn down” you could say, but in all honesty I see why God did that, and it took me a year and a half to figure that out haha!

But enough about all that, I just really praise God for 2010 as much as I have for 2009, 2008, and so on. The thing about losing something of yours, about why certain things like our best friends, our girlfriends/boyfriends, or our achievements and successes, are taken away from us is because we sometimes forget that we still need to grow and expand. Like a crop that has already been producing a certain fruit, sometimes it’s time that we start learning new things in life that God wants to show us. The crop is “uprooted”, “plowed”, and prepared for a new seed. And what kind of fruit this newly improved crop will produce and what kind of tastes and nutrients it will bring are a mystery that only God’s timing can tell. But for sure, that new fruit will be better than the last.

2010 has taught me so much in its process, and I can say that I have gained so many new closer friendships with people I never knew I would and I have strengthened so many other relationships that I had, unfortunately, never really taken the consideration to before.

2010 taught me what hate, jealousy and expectations really were and what they could do to a person and the relationships around them. What they could do to your relationship with God.

2010 taught me what it meant when they said that faith took more than just your emotions, but your reasons as well. It taught me what it really meant when God said, “offer ALL that you are to Me.”

2010 taught me a whole lot more about forgiveness. About how forgiveness is not forgetting, how forgiveness is not ceasing to feel the pain, and about how forgiveness is not a onetime event.

2010 taught me about God’s other most gracious F gift other than forgiveness: Freewill. It taught me what God meant when He said, “You have the choice.”

2010 taught me what “Let go and Let God” really meant.

And finally…

2010 taught me, and started me on this journey, of finding my true self.

I think 2011 will be a year for that, and maybe a couple more years for that as well. Who knows! But in the end, I know I’m still learning and growing, even with these “2010 taught me’s,” I’m still going to be learning more about them too. I feel like there’s a lot to keep up, but I know God has my back.

Anyway, Happy New Years everyone! God bless and take care!

Love your brother in Christ,

Gabriel

Promises.

PS. To future self: Ha, you read your old 2010 post. How different do you feel? ;)

Praise God.