Year in review?

I am at a standstill. Writer's block... or I guess speaker's block. My pastor here in Naples asked me to speak at college group this Thursday. Simple. Just talk about what God has taught me this year.

Right, so...

sooooo.....

What have I learned? Maybe it's because I am 1000 miles away from where I spent the year, but I cannot remember learning much. I remember relying on God a lot to get me through marathon training. I remember learning how important it is to be joyful, and learning how to live in such a way that I will remain in joy. And I remember learning (that hard way) to look to Him for hope, and not looking to anything else.

Now, I don't want to downplay how important those lessons are, because honestly I am an exponentially stronger person having learned them. It's just that I feel like I should be learning more. I feel like I should be growing faster... but should I? I heard it said once that spiritual growth is not something that can be measured, as it is too gradual, and that it cannot always be seen in others. But what about yourself? Should I be able to see myself growing more than I already can?

I am writing this out because it is something that has frustrated me for a long time. And obviously it is frustrating because there is no answer. There's no standard against which I can compare myself. There's no 12 steps to becoming a fully matured Christian. Which leads me to thinking... is there such a thing as a fully matured Christian? I am leaning towards (aka I am certain that) no, there is not. Nobody has mastered it, and nobody ever will.

So maybe now I should stop worrying about how fast I progress.

That was easy.
:-)