New Year… new start!

               We are thrilled as we look back at what God did in 2009. There was much to smile about, and there were tears as well. I’m glad to know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to his purpose for them. Even still, it hardly seems possible that the time went so quickly. I know you probably feel the same way. But as we look back and realize that there is nothing we can go back and re-do, we need to look forward and consider the question, “What’s next?” How do we properly plan for this new decade? What do we say, ‘yes’ to and what do we refuse? It is important to keep our priorities and values very clear. Ralph T. Flewelling said it well, “Some values are ... like sugar on the doughnut, legitimate, desirable, but insufficient, apart from the doughnut itself. We need substance as well as frosting.” I remember opening my fortune cookie at a Chinese restaurant once and reading, “If the cake is bad, what good is the frosting?”

               Rev. 4:11 tells us, “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”

               As the new year gets underway, I’m going to try to remember [once again] that things do not revolve around me; that there is a larger story than mine unfolding in this universe; and, that even though those first two thoughts are true, there is a part that my heavenly Father desires that I play in His plan for bringing about His restoration. I’m going to try to take my role as ‘ambassador’ [2 Corinthians 5:20] seriously and represent Him well.