It is amazing how full the new blank, clean, full of opportunities, plan ahead calendar is already! 2019 is here and in its first week and nothing has changed but the number – it is busy.
All that said, I do like New Year’s Day and what it means. It is a clean slate, an opportunity for change, a calendar of possibilities and excitement. It is a gift from God. Our God gives us new starts whenever we ask for them – January 1 is just a reminder of the gift of new beginnings that God gives.
I am not one for New Year’s Resolutions – they never seem to make it out of January. But I am a fan of starting fresh; of learning something new and being open to possibilities.
I did hear two New Year Resolutions on a radio program that did intrigue me:
~Make a new friend a month.
~Break a record.
Making a new friend a month takes effort, but we will never know what we are missing if we do not try to find someone new to share ups and downs. Imagine 12 new friends by the end of the year.
Now breaking a record will be harder – especially what. It doesn’t have to be a world or even national record. It is to do one thing better than I have done it before. Break my own record. Now that has possibilities.
What do I want to do a better job at? To spend more time with family? To eat more meals together? To help others? To acknowledge that we all need a little me time? The endless list of possibilities is before us.
Challenge each member of your family to find one personal record they want to improve. If each will share it, then encouragement and acknowledgment of progress can be made. Or maybe you all decide to keep it private. Have each family member write the record they want to improve on a piece of paper and seal them in an envelope. On New Year’s Eve 2019, open the envelope and see how everyone has done.
Blessings and joy to each of you in the New Year.
A Request to all Parents and Grandparents
One of the great frustrations we face at the church is trying to make sure that our records on our computer system at the church have current information. This is especially true with our children, since their birth date does not always truly say what grade they are in school, etc. I am attaching a form that I would like parents and grandparents to complete for their children/grandchildren. This will help us update our files and make sure that everyone that should be on the list is there. It will also give us a good list to use when we have announcements of special programs. Thank you for your help!
Coming this week in Sunday School
This is a rare year in the Church Calendar. The actual day of Epiphany falls on a Sunday. Not an opportunity to be missed. Both Preschool and Elementary Classes will have a lesson on Epiphany on Sunday, January 6, 2019. The following Sunday, the elementary students will begin a study of the life of the great Old Testament Patriarch Joseph. This study will continue through February 24 (with no Sunday School on January 27 the weekend of the Congregation Retreat at Montreat). Our preschool children will be studying the events early in the ministry of Jesus – beginning with Christ’s baptism and temptations in the wilderness.
