Category Archives: New Years

The beginning of a new year brings a lot of hope and excitement. A feeling of newness. But what do we do with it?

New Year…New Outlook…New Life

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First of all, let me start by saying I don’t make New Years resolutions. I haven’t for years.

For one thing, no one keeps them, including me. Certainly we have good intentions when we make them, but within a week or so those good intentions are gone, and unless we wrote the resolutions down somewhere, and can actually remember where we put them, we’re never going to remember them all anyway.

Why bother? Because the only way you can change your life is by actually doing it. Not by resolving to do it in the future; not by talking about what you’re going to do; but by actually doing something to change your life now. And continuing to do it. Not just doing it for the first few days of the new year.

Why do we seem to think we have to make resolutions when a new year begins? Because it’s new. A new year means a new beginning. You look at the year ahead as a blank canvas ready to be filled with all sorts of wonderful things you’re going to accomplish.

You mean well; you really do. But somehow along the way, as the month of January progresses, all those plans and resolutions are forgotten, put away with all the good intentions from last year, and the year before, and the year before that. And your canvas remains blank, without even the beginning of a sketch on it.

And before you know it, you’re in the same old rut as last year. Doing the same things with the same results. Wanting to break out in a new direction, do something you’ve always wanted to try, but just never getting around to it, because something else always comes up.

I read a quote the other day that really sums this all up. “A person that really wants something will find a way to make it happen. A person who doesn’t will find an excuse that it didn’t.”

And if you really want to accomplish something in the new year, to step out of your comfort zone, you’ll stop talking about doing it and actually start! You won’t need a resolution. You’ll just need a plan. And the willingness to stick to it.

My biggest goal for 2016 was to get my first book published. And I did. It wasn’t always easy, and I almost gave up a few times. But I did it! And the feeling of accomplishment was incredible! And it still is.

My husband and I both have things we want to accomplish in 2017. We’re planning on how to accomplish them; setting measurable goals; and planning on keeping each other on track as far as what we want to get done, and by when. And we will evaluate our progress as necessary to keep each other on track.

But resolutions? No. Anyone can make those. It’s setting goals and adhering to them that makes our plans work.

Happy New Year 2017! May it be your best year ever!

When the Confetti is Gone

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Times Square was filled with people. Thousands of them cheering and screaming and waiting for the ball to drop. There were party hats and noisemakers. Streamers and confetti. Entertainers and TV cameras. Each and every one couldn’t wait til that magic moment.

You could almost feel the anticipation as we watched the activity on TV in the comfort of our home, like millions of others across the country and the world.

Like us, they were waiting. Across the globe other time zones had already passed into the new year, and the cameras would occasionally switch to show the other celebrations that were already over….almost as quickly as they began.

In the scope of mere seconds, another year had ended, and another had begun. We were all excited, as we celebrated a new beginning, watched fireworks and tossed confetti, called and texted friends and wished them “Happy New Year!”, and then….what next?

Within a half hour Times Square was almost empty, except for those whose job it was to clean up after the party was over. The celebrants had left, moving on to other parties to find another reason to celebrate, or going back to hotel rooms or homes, as the feeling of euphoria and excitement they’d just experienced slowly left them, and the same old feelings they’d tried to leave behind returned. The confetti and streamers that had been tossed in the air a short time ago, were already being swept away and discarded…forgotten. They were no longer needed or wanted. Because there was no more anticipation or excitement; nothing to look forward to. Really? Are you sure about that?
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Life often hits us like that. We spend so much time preparing for and anticipating an important event…and when it’s over, we’re let down. Almost depressed. We dissect what took place, look at the pictures, share memories with friends, but we can’t quite seem to capture that exact feeling again. We keep looking for that same excitement to reoccur, and we’re disappointed when it seems to be back to business as usual.

Or is it back to business as usual because we allow it to be?

We forget how to look ahead with expectancy and excitement, unless it’s for some big special event coming up. We forget there are little things to be excited about, as well as the excitement and anticipation of things to come that we don’t even know about. There are things we’ve been hoping for, and praying for, but we’re almost to the point of giving up on them. Because we’ve been waiting so long, and we just don’t think it’s going to ever happen.

But guess what! It is! Isaiah 43:19 tells us, “Look at the new thing I am going to do. It is already happening. Don’t you see it?” (NCV) We only need to look with our spiritual eyes and heart. We need to see it as already accomplished and begin thanking the Lord that it’s already done. Because He has promised us, and we know that those promises are always fulfilled!

I’m guilty of feeling that way, too. More often than I’d like to be. But this year I’m making a serious effort to change that! I am determined not to go back to that old way of thinking, and I’m going to start seeing all of those things as already done. There’s so much to look forward to in this coming year. The birth of our first granddaughter in May is the only one I really know about, but I know there are many more exciting blessings coming our way! I just don’t know when they will occur, or exactly what they will be, but I know they are coming.

So I’m getting out the confetti and the streamers (and maybe a few balloons), and I’m getting ready!


How about your joining me in the celebration?

New Year’s Traditions…What Are Yours?

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We’ve all heard about having black eyed peas for good luck on New Year’s Day. Friends of ours have an open house on New Year’s Day and there’s always a pot of them included in the party fare. But here are a couple more I hadn’t heard about. And I wish to give a huge “thank you” to my friend Dianne Disharoon for sharing them with us. As well as another big thanks for her giving me permission to post it here. [With my comments added in brackets, of course!]

“Sauerkraut is ready for tonight. Black eyed peas ready for tomorrow. I just need a tall, dark-haired male to be the first visitor tomorrow. Then, I’ll be all set for good luck in 2016!

My grandmother ALWAYS had a pot of homemade black eyed peas (Blackeyed-peas1with ham hock or fatback) on New Year’s Day. She was Southern to the core. I’ve got my black eyed peas ready, but not in the manner she ever would have considered serving….they’re in a salad. She’d probably be appalled! [Now this sounds interesting]

Her English heritage was evident in her observance of the Northern England and Scottish tradition of “First-Foot.” The First-Foot is the first person to enter the home on New Year’s Day and is said to be a bringer of good fortune for the coming year. It is said to be desirable for the First-Foot to be a tall, dark-haired male. A female or fair-haired male are regarded as unlucky. The dark haired male is believed to be a throwback to the Viking days, when a big blonde stranger arriving on your door step most assuredly meant big trouble. [Now I can go along with this being good luck, especially for certain of my female friends who are single…send him over and I’ll keep him here until they come over!]

My father and his two brothers were always my grandmother’s first visitors on New Year’s Day. However, as my Uncle Mervin was blond, he had to wait until either my father or Uncle Wilson crossed the threshold first. [Wow! Hope they all arrived in one car!]

However, my grandmother took the tradition one step further. She wouldn’t allow ANY female to cross her threshold all New Year’s Day! One year my Aunt Mary Anne (her daughter, no less!) came for a visit. Nope, wasn’t going to happen; she wasn’t walking in that house! My grandmother stood at the back door and barred her entry. [Probably with a broom!] My poor aunt went back to Virginia [Dianne and her family live in Maryland] without stepping foot inside her own mother’s house.

Since my mother was half German, she always had sauerkraut on New Year’s Eve (to my father’s chagrin – definitely not his favorite!). Thankfully, the one-fourth German in me [Dianne, that is, I only like sauerkraut on a Reuben sandwich] loves saChucrutuerkraut. German tradition says eating sauerkraut will bring blessings and wealth for the new year. So before the New Year’s Eve meal, everyone seated at the table wishes each other as much goodness and money as the number of shreds of cabbage in the pot of sauerkraut. So I’m sure that pot is always overflowing!]
I’m all set for New Year’s Eve and Day except for the tall, dark-haired male visitor!”

Sounds like an interesting combination, don’t you think? What New Year traditions do you have?

Happy New Year to each and every one of you!

No More Resolutions

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Traditionally almost all of us make at least one or two New Year’s resolutions. We say we’re going to lose weight, exercise more, get our financial lives together, or spend more time with our families instead of our jobs.

We really mean it when we make those resolutions. But by the end of a couple weeks, or at least by the end of January all of those resolutions were forgotten. Discarded. We just can’t seem to make them work. It takes too much effort, or we lose interest.

Personally, I’ve hardly ever made any New Year’s resolutions, because I know I won’t keep them. What’s so special about making a change in our lives simply because it’s a new year? If we don’t change ourselves and our way of thinking, turning over the date on the calendar isn’t going to do it.

Instead of making resolutions I’m going to do something a little different this year. I’m going to list the things that I’m grateful for. The things that really matter to me. And when I get discouraged during the year, I’m going to pull that list out and read it, and remember how I started the new year with a grateful heart, because resolutions don’t last. But the things that we’re grateful for should.

Here are a few of those things which give me reason to enter into the 2016 with a new attitude of hope and expectancy.

My husband’s health – Ben was rushed to the ER a year and a half ago, and flat-lined in front of Ashley and me almost as soon as he arrived. It was the most frightening thing I have ever been through. But he survived, received a pacemaker, and was home the next day. He returned to the ER this summer, shortly after our daughter’s wedding, with congestive heart failure. Eight days later he was back home, and six months later his heart is back to normal and he has no restrictions except a low sodium diet. Praise the Lord!

My health – I am extremely healthy. I may be stressed, but who isn’t!? I don’t exercise. I’m not overweight. My cholesterol and other bloodwork is fine. I am thankful every day for the gift of good health.

Friends – Ben and I have several very close, very dear friends who are always there for us when we need them, just as we are there for them. They are not acquaintances. They’re our family, and we love each other dearly.

Home – I may grumble about having to clean, but we have a comfortable home. It may need fresh paint and a bit of new carpet here and there, but it’s our home, where we raised our daughter, entertain our friends, and just enjoy being together.

A loving and helpful husband – Ben helps me around the house without my ever asking. He brings me my coffee in the morning, does the grocery shopping, helps clean, fixes my lunch for me to take to work every day, and usually has dinner ready when I get home from a job that’s 45 minutes away. He also works full time. He is a gem, and I would not trade him for anything in the world.

Our country – We live in a country where we are free to worship as we please without fear of being arrested or killed because of our beliefs. We are also free to voice our opinions without fear of being arrested or imprisoned.

Our children – Our daughter Ashley is now happily married to her long-time boyfriend Chris, who we love as much as we do her. They have bought their first home; they both have good jobs; and best of all, they are expecting our first grandchild, a daughter, this summer. This is the greatest blessing of all…except…

Our Lord and Savior – who loves us unconditionally, who answers our prayers, even when we don’t like the answers, and promises us the gift of eternal life, just because we love him.

With blessings such as these, who needs to make New Year’s Resolutions?

May each of you have a blessed and Happy New Year! Count your blessings rather than your resolutions, and if you wish to share those blessings, we’d love to hear them!

Looking Ahead…Not Back

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The last two years have been challenging, to say the least. In fact, for our family as well as so many of our close friends, it seems like it’s been one battle after another. Hard fought battles, I should add. Not mere skirmishes that last for an hour or so, but in some cases battles that have lasted almost the entire two years, and are still continuing.

Last New Year’s Eve we all counted down the seconds as we watched the ball drop in Times Square (on TV of course), toasted each other, yelled Happy New Year to everyone in the room, and said, “Thank goodness that year is over! This one has to be better!”

Surprise! Although 2015 saw our daughter happily married to the man of her dreams, which has now led to our status as future grandparents in 2016, this year was as difficult as the year before. And for some of our friends, it was even worse.

Job losses and its resulting financial crises. Broken marriages and sudden spousal/parental desertion. Serious illness and terminal diagnoses. Runaway children turning to drugs. Auto accidents. Unexpected deaths of parents and spouse. Not to mention dealing with the stress from all of these incidents, whether our personal situations or our friends’; when our friends are hurting, we’re hurting as well.

There were times we dreaded answering the phone because it could bring more bad news.

I can’t count the number of times all of us have asked each other, “Lord where are you in all of this? Why are you allowing this to happen? When are you going to intervene? Why have you deserted me? I look at others who aren’t believers and their lives are so much easier. What’s going on? Have you forgotten us?”

How do you answer that when your friends are hurting so much? And so are you?

Why are we experiencing all of these trials? I have no answers. Except that we live in a fallen world. Things happen. People make bad choices that affect others as well as themselves. God gave us all free will. And although He wants us to live the way He intended us to live, the choices we make, as well as choices others make, do not always align with His word. Although He could easily control all of our lives and our actions, He allows us to make our own decisions. Some good, and some not so good. And many decisions we later regret.

We know John 16:33 tells us, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” But so much trouble at one time? We look back and wonder what we did wrong. What if we’d done this, or that? What if we’d worked harder? Gone to the doctor more often? Done things differently in our marriage or with our children?

It’s all too easy to mire ourselves in our past. We dwell on all the negative things that have happened and are still happening. We talk about them all the time and we relive each moment of the pain and over and over again. We try to figure out what we could’ve done differently to change things. As one friend says, it’s like opening up a wound over and over…a wound that is starting to scab over and heal, but we won’t allow it to do that. And then we wonder why things don’t change.

The longer we dwell on the past, the longer we stay in the past. We can’t seem to look ahead because we keep looking back. When Lot and his family were told to leave Sodom, the Lord told them not to look back. But Lot’s wife disobeyed and looked back, and she was turned into a pillar of salt. There was a reason He told them not to look back. He had a new life waiting for them; something better. But they couldn’t experience that new life if they kept looking back and dwelling on the past.

Isaiah 43:18 tells us to “forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.” So why do we continue to do so? Is it because sometimes it’s easier to try and dissect what went wrong, rather than look ahead to the better things the Lord has in store for us? Because we can’t see them yet?

In 1 Corinthians 2:9, we are reminded, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined the things that God has prepared for those who love him.” If we love Him, we are to trust Him. Because He has this under control, whether we think He does or not.

If you remember, Jesus prayed to his heavenly Father in the Garden of Gethsemane to “take this cup from me.” He felt abandoned by the Lord as well, and He was His SON! And He knew the ending of the story. If the son of God can feel that way, no wonder we have our own moments as well.

The Lord told us, “never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5) And He doesn’t. Even when you feel at your lowest, He’s there, preparing to give you something so much better than before. And it will be in His perfect timing, at the perfect opportunity. We only have to keep our faith. It won’t be too early, or too late. Because He knows best.

This year, at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve, don’t look back. Look ahead. The Lord’s promises are about to be fulfilled in your life…and in ours as well. It may not be in the way we expect, but it will be exactly as He has planned.

Happy New Year, and may the blessings of the Lord be abundant in your lives in 2016! The best is yet to come.