The stark reality that 2010 is over has not quite hit me yet.

I have not written the date yet.

I have not even seen the full date yet.

I have started this day in much the same way I have started everyday since completing my internship and returning to Phoenix.

I have continued in similar habits and activities (including finding a coffee shop so I can work in the familiar environment of busy-ness.)

I keep thinking, "Maybe I should come up with a New Year's resolution."

After all, isn't that why we have them? When we really get down to the heart of whatever we swear we will do differently, doesn't it all come down to the fact that making a change in our lives is the only real way we can actually grab hold of the passing of another year and the entrance into a new one.

Yet if a noticeable, tangible change is what is required for me to recognize the passing of time, I am not sure that I will need a resolution for that.

Tomorrow is a big day for me. Tomorrow a vote is being taken that may change my life in thousands of ways. Even if tomorrow does not go the way I would like it to, the same changes will eventually come my way.

Let's just assume everything will go the way I would like it to.

In that case, I will be planning a move to North Dakota within the next month.

I will begin a call as a pastor of a congregation.

I will embrace a new title, a new home, a new life.

It is all a little daunting, a little intimidating, and a lot exciting.

I could resolve to exercise more.

I could plan on keeping up on correspondence.

I could say I would eat healthier.

I could attempt to actually write a blog entry once a week, or even once a day.

I could pray more, walk more, read more, worry less, listen more, talk less, or stress out less.

Seriously though, do I need one more change coming my way? And which of the above is not going to be accomplished simply by the nature of the huge changes coming my way?

Yes if a change of some kind is what marks the passage of time for us, I think my New Year is well taken care of.

I only pray that the changes that meet you this year are as wonderful and life affirming as the ones rising up to meet me.

Happy New Year!