A NEW YEAR'S THOUGHT



      As this year and this decade draw to a close, we don’t have to look far to see all the problems and hurts in our community, nation, and world. It’s natural to want to fix things. It’s frustrating as well as humbling to admit there is very little we as individuals can do to solve these problems. 
      But if we open our eyes and our hearts, we don’t have to look far to find beauty and love. If we will look past the problems and hurts, we can see how blessed we truly are. 
      Each of us has a little circle where we live, work, worship, and play. We should each do everything in our ability to make things better within our own circle. We shouldn't compare our circle to anyone else’s circle, or envy someone else’s circle. If we each take care of our own little circle of the world, maybe these circles will grow and overlap, and make the whole world a better place. 
      We will wake up tomorrow to a new day, a new month, a new year, and a new decade. Instead of a New Year’s Resolution, I challenge each of you, and myself, to make an effort every day to improve your own little circle in some way. 
      Maybe our circles will intersect in the New Year, and we can exchange a smile or a hug. I wish you peace, prosperity, happiness, laughter, and love, in 2020 and beyond.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NEW WEBSITE

  If you've enjoyed any of my writing, I hope you'll hop over to my new website  here. You'll find some of these posts, plus some new stories, essays, and some reviews I've done of books you might want to check out. 
Read more

Finding the Blessings Under a Blanket of Snow

 I’ve never been a fan of winter. Give me the summer sun and a pool, lake, or ocean to float in, or heck, even a lawn sprinkler, and I’ll be totally content. A winter wonderland is something I prefer to see in photos. So I’m sure you can imagine how I grumbled at the forecasts of this historic snow event. They’re calling it Snowmageddon? Really? This morning at daylight 10” of snow covered our world and it was -2 degrees in our little map dot. For our area, that’s a ten-year, or even a twenty-year record. Plus, the forecast calls for a second wave starting tonight. So I decided to pull my blanket tighter and look on the bright side. First, Gary and I are both in good health and do not need to go out to seek medical care or treatment. At our ages, or at any age actually, this is a blessing. We were able to go pick up supplies ahead of the first wave, so we have plenty. We are aware that not everyone had the physical ability or the financial ability to stock up, and we are grateful
Read more

When in Doubt, Pray

Image
When my daughter was young, we were active in a local church. We tried to teach her to have a relationship with the Lord and pray regularly. She has always been a kind-hearted and loving child, and frequently felt led to pray for her friends and family. Animals have always been a part of our family, and we’ve always treated them with kindness and care. So it was not surprising to me that she often prayed for a beloved pet. At one point, a Sunday School leader told her she should not pray for animals, only for people. She was confused, and I was disheartened, to put it mildly. It was and still is my belief that a loving and caring God understands the heart of a child. The lesson we were trying to teach was that you can take all of your cares, concerns, and worries to the Lord. Philippians 4:6 tells us, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition and thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” If we devalue the prayers of a young child, h
Read more