Reflection at the end of the year is a regular routine of mine. Events that transpired and people that inspired, books that were impactful or situations where I could have been more tactful, lessons learned and experience hard-earned. I think the process is more than healthy; it is necessary.
The close of 2019 provides a more sweeping opportunity. As the year draws to a close, so too does the decade. As I have begun the process of thinking about all that’s happened in those 10 years, my mind continues to come back to the importance of 10 events — and the people that were associated with them . Those events and those people have been invaluable in terms of shaping me into who I am at the close of the 2010s as opposed to the beginning.
I will let history and posterity decide how the 2010s will be characterized and codified, synthesized and categorized, demonized or glorified, written down and passed down. People far smarter than I can work out those details.
At a personal level, the decade will forever hold some of the most pivotal and formative moments of my life. I do not know what the future holds. None of us do. But I know that the 2010s were a powerful force of growth and change in my life. I suspect they were in yours as well.
“If we are soft enough to allow Him and humble enough to pay attention, God is faithful to use all of our days to carefully chisel away that which is not in our best interest in order to bring out that which is most for His glory and our good.”
As the sun sets on this decade, I am somehow simultaneously the same-old Tim Fritson and an entirely different human being than when the sun rose on January 1, 2010. The gifts are the same, but the understanding of them is different. The longings are fairly similar, but the motivations have been sanctified. The passions are the same, but their pursuit and channeling is more refined. The general personality and disposition are what they are, but I have learned to understand, appreciate, see the downfalls and blindspots of both better. The quirks are the same…but hopefully they are less annoying because I have hemmed them in a bit?
Maybe these musings will only be for me. Maybe they will inspire some reflection in others. Maybe some of these moments were shared with you, and while you read you are able to do some introspection for yourself. Whatever the case may be, you can read along if you choose.
Just for the sake of piquing interest, here are the 10 events in a generally chronological order**.
A Young Pastor and Patient Church Make a Big Change (And It’s Hard)
A Deep Darkness Came to Visit
I will work in order. All had inalterable impact on me and I pray that through some reflection on my part, maybe there will be something in them for you as well.
** I say generally because some of them happened in a solid, all-at-once kind of moment while others unfolded over a season of time.
