Posting by Guest Blogger: Karen O'Connor
Day One of Seven

U-turns, second chances, new beginnings. Sometimes I can hardly wait for them. And sometimes I feel like a kid being forced to eat those green things Mom said are good for me. Does that ever happen to you? For me 2006 has been a bit of both--anticipation and anxiety. Now that I'm at the end of this year of change and challenge, I'm excited to shout "Yeah! God! You always know what's best for me. Why do I ever doubt it?" He keeps picking me up, dusting me off, and letting me start all over again. This year the fresh start is in a new city in a new house near our youngest daughter and her family. This is something I've always wanted but never thought I could have––for all kinds of reasons I made up, like not having enough money, or time, or believing it would take too much effort, etc., etc., etc., as the King of Siam said with a wave of his hand in The King and I. I saw boulders in the road. But God removed them, one by one. He's into U-turns. He took my longing and turned it into a possibility. So here we are--in a house of our own in the beautiful Central Coast of California surrounded by acres of strawberry farmland, the Pacific Ocean nearby, and the Diablo Mountains behind us. I can see the stars at night in the cold black sky, hear the waves crash on the shore as I drive north on Highway 1 and feel the cool breeze sail down the mountains in the early morning.
All this in a community of other people over 55 who, like my husband Charles and I, are also making U-turns, eager for new adventures and new friendships. As one neighbor put it, "There will be no strangers here. We're going to take care of each other." And so today I am turning again--with thanksgiving and praise for the gifts of faith, friendship, family, finances, food, fitness, fun––and second chances.