See You Next Year

I remember when I was a kid the first time someone said to me "See you next year!" on New Year's Eve. I was so puzzled as to why it would be so long until I saw them again. Then when the joke was revealed to me, I thought it was the funniest thing around. I am guessing I must have said it to everyone. Well, I haven't said it to anyone one for a good many years now, but remembered it today. I knew it would strike my kids funny.

At the grocery store, I was talking to an older woman I know, and as she went on her way, I said without thinking, "See you next year." All of a sudden, I felt like a little kid again who had just repeated their favorite joke too someone one too many times. She didn't realize it was supposed to be funny. But the older man coming out of the next check out, heard it all, and did enough whole hearted laughing to cheer up the whole store. I'm glad someone is looking forward to next year. But the really funny thing is that if I saw him tomorrow, I wouldn't know who he was, because I didn't get more then a glimpse of him before he was gone.

We did have a nice evening. Some friends invited a bunch of us to meet in a room at the church for a potluck supper, and table games. Most of the people there had babies, so things shut down early, but that was just fine with me. We put our kids to bed at a reasonable time too. I have no desire to spend the evening waiting for midnight to come. And we choose to have nothing to do with alcohol.

It has been a good year, and we look forward to all the days of life that God gives us. My desire is to spend the next year walking with God, and let Him take care of the details.