2007 Favorites

As 2007 dwindles down to mere days, I find myself reflecting on what has been, for me, quite an eventful year, personally and career-wise. I love those end-of-the-year top ten lists, so here is my own top ten list of favorite events, people, and moments of 2007, in no particular order.

1. Beginning my blog: What started on a cold January morning as an experiment in just how blogging works has developed into a full-blown blog. And there have been times during the year when I've loved it, and other times when I've simply endured it. And yet here I am, in December, still blogging away. I get to write, and once in a while, someone actually reads!

2. Going to Chicago on the train and seeing the musical Wicked with Katie and Jonathan. It all started out as a compromise: We would ride the train to Chicago like Jonathan always wanted, and he would come see a musical like Katie and I wanted. Everybody ended up a winner, and I ended up with a new favorite musical.

3. Going to NYC to the Book Expo with co-workers Melissa and Kevin. I truly felt like Tess in Working Girl as I was handed designer bottled water and fancy chocolates while we checked into our room at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square. We saw a Broadway show and traipsed all over the city, shopping like crazy women (not Kevin--Melissa and I). Oh yeah--we attended sessions on the cutting-edge trends in book publishing as well and learned a lot.

4. Summer Sunday evenings on the patio with Henry, Katie, and Jonathan. These were the best, filled with fireflies, star and moon gazing, and mosquito bites. Ahhhhh. . .

5. Meeting Julia at Panera, talking away and drinking coffee, and realizing that a blizzard had developed while we visited. And I kind of wish we'd stayed there so the story would have been even better. What more could we need? Comfy chairs, indoor plumbing, lots of food--even a fireplace. Maybe we should revisit that this winter, Julia.

6. Attending the Philadelphia Conference with Henry. It was such a great experience to spend an evening and a day listening to some truly dynamic speakers talking about the power of God's Word. And I ran into some old friends from the Cedarville days, making the weekend complete.

7. Compiling and writing Better Than Life. It was such a great and sobering experience to research the contemporary persecuted church and to share these Christians' stories with other readers.

8. Going canoeing with Henry, Katie, and Jonathan on Labor Day. It was quite an adventure on the Thornapple River. Henry paddled, I helped a little, and Katie and Jonathan screamed at each other for several miles as we spent a late summer afternoon on the water.

9. Getting our first live Christmas tree this year. Henry and I went to the lot, picked it out, and then let it sit outside in the rain for a day so the gas fumes from the chainsaw that spilled on the tree could dissipate. After another day in the garage, our anti-Charlie Brown Christmas tree made its December home in our living room. And still every time we pull up in the driveway, someone comments that we have the best Christmas tree in the neighborhood.

10. I've saved the best for last: Henry. While we met in 2006, I think he'd agree that we discovered the treasure we had together this past year. He's my dearest friend in all the world, and watching the summer sky, walking around the neighborhood on a Sunday evening, going to the symphony, singing in the Zeeland Civic Chorus's production of Handel's Messiah--life in general--is just that much sweeter when shared with him.

May "the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands" (Psalm 90:17).