The Curvy Pink Slide

Today is the eve of the unknown. We are on the cusp of a virgin year, and we look ahead with great anticipation. What lies ahead, no one knows, because what lies behind in the old year we never could have predicted.

And yes, today is the eve of all that 2011 will hold—marriages, funerals, triumphs, new friends, the hardest of choices, and sweet lessons from God. But it is also the final act of 2010 and all that it held—marriages, funerals, and all, including sweet time with God. And so we waver on New Year’s Eve between the old and the new. New Year’s Eve is the odd day in which we give 2010 our final goodbye, but at the same time are so eager for 2011 to arrive that we bring it in with a vociferous countdown from ten.

And on this day I am my three year old self once again—at the top of the curvy pink slide, clutching the sides so I can look back at my reassuring mommy’s face, and giggling at the prospect of the fun ahead. But still I waver between mommy’s familiar face and the dark curves ahead, unable to actually loose my sweaty grip, and completely oblivious that Daddy is in fact waiting at the bottom. And mommy suggests, “Why don’t we count down, and then you can let go?”

“10.” Sitting at the top of the slide or at the final day of the year, why do we fuss so much about tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that and the dark curves ahead? Why shorten the year to 364 days by missing this very important last day?

“9.” I’m not saying, of course, to forget about looking ahead, planning, setting goals, or making resolutions, because all of this is crucial and valuable.

“8. 7.” I am saying that my resolution this year is to not let that planning become worrying, but to enjoy each day as God’s gift to me. To truly apply Psalm 118:24 “This is the day the LORD has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it” is my resolution this year.  Not kinking my neck to reassure myself that mommy’s still behind me. Not diving headfirst down the pink slide and arriving in a knotted heap of arms, legs, and bruises at the bottom.

“6.” But sitting at the top of the slide and, for once, enjoying the view! The guitar-shaped clouds, the tingle in my fingers as the time to let go nears, the exceptional greenness of the grass. Neither rehearsing the past nor dreading the future, enjoying each today in balance is the best way to live.

“5. 4.” We all have had those weeks looming ahead that make it nearly impossible to enjoy the view. With the weighty to-do list hovering we sigh, chin cupped despondently in hand, “I wish I could just fast forward this week.” And I guarantee that 2011 will hold at least one of those weeks for each of us. But fast-forwarding such a week would be the biggest mistake of our lives, because it is when we feel so hopelessly incompetent for the task at hand that God can be the strongest in our lives and show us what He would have us see that day. It is when rejoicing in each day as God's gift is the hardest that it becomes the sweetest and most meaningful.

“3.” So enjoy this transitional Eve. And in all your reminiscing and in all your anticipation, don’t lose the day. Don’t let all the other 729 days you are thinking about spill over and obliterate this little 24 hour period entirely.

“2.” Finish well with a special time in the Word, and as the last numbers of the count down are shouted out and the second hand slips by, relish the view. Make Deuteronomy 4:39 your theme verse: “Therefore know this day, and consider it in your heart, that the LORD Himself is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.” (emphasis added)

Then you can let go and charge the pink, curvy unknown, with delightful surprises emerging around every alarm clock ring, and--best of all--your Daddy waiting at the end of it all to catch you up with outstretched arms and a bear hug.  But as your fingers peel off the pink edge and the wind starts to rush through your hair, don't forget to shout with all your might:

“1! Happy New Year!”

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Picture Credit: Donnie Ray