New Year, Fresh Slate

We had a wonderful time last night at our Watchnight Service. It has been a number of years since I have been to one of those. We talked, we ate, we sang, we prayed, the kids played board games, and we saw the New Year in with Communion. I'm still riding on the "Ahhhh" factor. You know, that sense of being fully satisfied by the presence of the Lord, and the company of folks who, for all intents and purposes are family.

I do have to confess that for me the holidays are a bit anticlimactic. All the rush and craziness distill down into a few hours of expectation, and then it's gone. I don't get really excited about either of them anymore. Not being bah, humbug, just not into all the high-energy stuff, either. I have begun looking past all the hype to the true Reason for the season, and viewing New Year's as a time of reflection on what has transpired and with a certain longing for what will be in the coming year. Kind of a "pulling toward" what lies ahead. I think of Paul's statement of pressing on toward the high calling of Christ. I want to meet it moving forward, rather than have it come to find me. This way, every day is "New Year's Day," because every day has never happened before.

I pray that each of you has a wonderful day, followed by another wonderful day, and another, and another...the string of moments that when viewed as a whole represent a lifetime. Whether the day soars or hurts, the fact that we LIVE and BREATHE is a wondrous thing, especially when we stop to remember that Jesus holds us in the palm of His hand and when we are there, nothing else really matters. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!