Today is the final day of 2008. As I reflect on the past year, it was certainly filled great highs and great lows. I experienced times of great happiness with many blessings and other times of great sadness with difficult trials.

I would say it was in the lows where I grew the most in my faith and trust in God. It was in the challenging trials where I found myself drawing closer to God to rely on His strength. He was always there for me; He was faithful as promised.

When the going was good, God was still just as close, but it was easy to drift my own direction relying on my own strength. I still have much to learn, but God did teach me a great deal about love, trust, patience, and forgiveness. I could go on and on about how much I have learned, but we all know I still have a lifetime of learning still ahead of me.

It is good to look back on 2008, but I look forward to 2009.

As we begin 2009, my prayer for myself and for all of you is that we would have a greater sense of wonder at the majesty of our Savior and King, our Lord Jesus Christ. My desire in the coming days is to learn more about who God is, what He is like, what are His characteristics, and how He reveals himself.

I desire to be filled with wonder. I desire this for all of us.

Wonder used as a verb can mean “to think curiously or be curious about” and “to be filled with admiration, amazement, or awe; to marvel.”

What would it be like to wake up each day in the months ahead truly curious about God or to wake up filled with awe at who He is? What does it mean to admire God and marvel at who He is? How would our lives look if we were filled with wonder? Would our lives be different?

May we all be filled with wonder...