Starting today
January 1, 2010 (Friday)
Today is the first day of 2010. That’s old news to the folks in Australia, who celebrated yesterday. Crossing the International Date Line moves you instantaneously from one day to the next. Folks in that part of the world are always a day ahead of us. “As the world turns,” the date changes.
So, to the Australians I ask about New Year’s Day, “How was it?” To the rest of you in the good old U.S.A., I say, “Happy New Year!”
I hope and pray your new year is full of serendipity. May every day find you being surprised by something good. As you get started in the new year, a good place to begin is to count your blessings. Before you ask the Lord for one more thing, take time to thank Him for who He is and what He does in your life and in the lives of your loved ones. As the hymn declares, “It will surprise you what the Lord has done.”
I hope you live each day in joyful expectation. Let’s all say, in the words of a popular Gaither song, “I just feel like something good is about to happen.” The power of a positive spirit is absolutely amazing. Not only will we feel better, everyone who comes into contact with us will feel better too, because emotions are contagious.
Perhaps some of us need to set our sights a little lower, and simply resolve, “I will not rain on anyone’s parade today. I won’t have such a negative and pessimistic attitude that others are brought ‘down’ by me.” That’s a good start for some of us. We can work up from there to feeling like something good is about to happen. We can change our actions from spreading gloom and doom to spreading joy and light. The Gaither song exhorts us to say, “Yes I’ve noticed all the bad news in the paper, and it seems like things get bleaker every day. But for this child of God it makes no difference, because it’s bound to get better either way.”
Lee Ann Womack’s song encourages us all to have a joyful and meaningful life: “Promise me you’ll give faith a fighting chance, and when you get the choice to sit it out or dance, I hope you dance.”
God bless you and may you have a very happy year this time around.