Snap By Snap

I don't think I've ever felt the winding down of a year more keenly than I do with 2012. My 50th year was a year of prayers, tears, stress, and hard work and they have yielded blessings beyond what I could ask or think. I am ending the year pleased but exhausted, and hopeful that during the Christmas break I will find myself refreshed and rested for the start of 2013.

True to my reflective nature, I am mulling over the takeaways from this long, long year. Some of them are things I thought I already knew, but they have gone from theory to practice . . .

• Make right decision after right decision and you will find yourself in the right place.
• You can do a lot with very little, but nothing on your own.
• It's not business, it's personal.
• Decide ahead of time to never be defensive.
• Be transparent - subterfuge is a waste of time.
• Listen.
• Love.
• Tie your every plan to a vision - know where you are going.
• Communicate. And then communicate some more.
• Acknowledge and celebrate progress
• Pray, and let people pray for you
• Teamwork is a powerful thing.

This could easily have been a year of great regrets, or a year made memorable only the sting of loss and suffering. But instead, it will be a year remembered with gratitude. I was able to see a great work accomplished by our team, by our community, and most of all through answered prayer. How often do you get to witness a miracle? I'm grateful I was able to do just that this year, in Greenwood.

The work is not done . . . looking forward to 2013!