Are you looking forward to the new year?  Most everyone I know is with high hopes for a better year.  Did you receive or send a greeting card that proclaimed it…Have a Happy New Year….May Your New Year Be Blessed with Happiness, Health and Prosperity and so on and so forth?

 Don’t most of us look forward to a better year? A happier year? A healthy and prosperous year?  Don’t most of us feel a year older? I do! Don’t most of us have things we want to accomplish “This Year!”   Does every year seem to go by a little quicker?   I have definitely noticed the challenge in keeping up …..not just in business but with my health, spiritually and physically and keeping up with friends and committments and all of life’s demands.  Time moves us forward whether we are ready or not.  I want to be ready for whatever comes my way. I want to be a stronger individual whose faith remains steadfast and strong.

Do you ever take a look back and reflect on the Good, the Bad and the Ugly?   I do, and I  usually start by being thankful for the Good. There is alot of good to behold in this world even though it is scarcely seen in the media.  

 I then take a realistic look at all the things that had an impact on my life throughout the year and I reflect on the areas where I could have done better and make it a New Years wish to do better.  Reflection for me is a healthy thing, a positive thing.  I am reminded of how gracious my God is towards me and how often He has been a true friend. 

God doesn’t count our mistakes, He desires to make a difference in our life.  He wipes the slate clean each and every day when we ask Him to.   So I don’t even have to go back and “remember”, I do so as a way of being grateful to have a Lord who is on this journey with me.  So I can take the “Bad” out of “bad” by saying Life is about learning and growing and things are not always “bad” if we learn from our mistakes and move on.  

What about the “ugly”?  Each person has their own definition to what that may be.  When I think of ugly, the words famine, homeless, sickness, drugs, war and violence in our cities, our country our world, come to mind. To wish for a more perfect world, to wish for a more beautiful world is merely a wish unless we get envolved to make it a better place to live. I want to contribute to that effort.

I am glad 2007 has come to an end.  I do look forward to the New Year.  There are things that I wanted to accomplish and didn’t and of course they will go on my List for “Things to Do” in 2008. And there are things that I am proud of without sounding like I’m boasting…..I am also thankful for 2007.   God has been faithful to me as a friend, as my God as my Savior.  I have wishes and plans for I intend to improve upon and then there are those high hopes for a year that brings me closer to the people I care about.

So my prayer for you is that you will have a blessed year and a good ending to 2008.