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Well, here we are again, at the end of another year and what a year it has been!
2020 has been a challenging year for this humble little blog and it’s closing in on 3 million views since starting in 2010.
Thanks everyone for your support this year, I really appreciate all of you and trust that 2021 will be a much better year for you and your loved ones.
I now have written over 2,800 posts on this blog since I launched and here are the 10 posts that have generated the most traffic in 2020: Read the rest of this entry »
One of my annual goals is to read 25 books per year and despite all of the challenges of 2020, once again I have been able to hit this target.
Some books are for self-education, some purely for entertainment, but they have all made a positive contribution to maintaining a healthy attitude and expanding my mind.
So, here are my top 10 favourites from 2020: Read the rest of this entry »
Frederic Ozanam, the founder of the St Vincent de Paul Society once said,
“Without any labour, there can be no merit.”
What a great reminder of the satisfaction that comes from hard work.
We sometimes want to avoid the arduous journey, but this is what is required, both to be successful and to feel content with our efforts.
If it all comes too easily, we know that it’s not as meaningful.
I know that it has been a tough year for many, but I hope that you don’t think that it’s been a wasted year.
The dreams and goals that you had at the start may have quickly evaporated as elements beyond your control took over, but that’s not necessarily the end of the world.
The black clouds may have blocked the sun for much of 2020, but the sun was still shining.
And we will see it again.
So, instead of just wishing for the year to be over and washing our hands of it, I would like to ask, what have we learned this year?
American writer, Hamilton Mabie once wrote,
Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love.
What a wonderful description of the Christmas season.
A conspiracy of love.
Where God so loves the world that He sent his only Son, so that we can be reconciled to the Father.
Not to condemn the world, but to save it.
The night before Christmas is full of eager anticipation, especially if you are a child.
Santa is coming.
What will he bring?
There will be food.
Lots of food.
A Christmas tree without decorations isn’t complete.
Pudding needs a generous serving of custard before it’s ready.
Presents can’t be given without first being wrapped.
You can’t have a Christmas Day service without a few carols.
One of the Christmas traditions of my sister-in-law and nieces is watching the old classic White Christmas.
I’ve managed to avoid this for the past few years, but this year I got to watch Bing Crosby et al dance and sing for our entertainment.
One of the songs has the lyrics,
When I’m worried and I can’t sleep
I count my blessings instead of sheep
And I fall asleep counting my blessings
Logan, Hayden and Madison
It’s that time of year again when we send and receive Christmas cards and letters with updates from friends and family, so in that spirit here is the annual message from our tribe.
Obviously, it’s been an odd year, but we’ve made it through and still have a smile on our faces. It was our first full year in Bendigo and moved into our new house in April this year. We had a block of land to build on, but needed to sell it when my work situation changed, but it has worked out well and we now have a lovely place on the edge of the bush.
If you’re obsessed one week with playing online chess.
And then the next week, you’re obsessed with wood-turning.
Then the following week, you can think of nothing else but cooking Spanish cuisine.
And then the week after, you’ve forgotten about all of the above and are suddenly smitten with cross country skiing, you probably won’t get very far.
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