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HAPPY NEW YEAR
Happy New Year! I am so glad to see you. Come on in and join me, I was just
sitting by the fire. It is so cold out there, I hear we are setting record lows.
We can just sit here in front of the fire and enjoy the Christmas decorations.
Before Christmas we are just to busy to enjoy this.
We have three birthdays after Christmas at our house Kellie's December 28,
Ron's January 1 and James
So when our kids were small our New Year always began just like every one
elses, with a party. Only our party was for a different reason it was in
celebration of a birthday.
The traditional New Years dinner was fondue. For that was Ronald's favorite.
When New Years fell on Sunday it changed the celebration a bit but dinner
was still a fondue.
We came home from church a bit early to get the fondue started. I was in the
back bedroom and Bob
put the oil was on the stove to heat in preparation for the fondue.
Then Bob realized Ron was late coming home from church, and he was suppose to
pick him up. Forgetting about the oil he left for the church.
Ron thinking nobody was going to pick him up got a ride home with some one
else. As luck would have it Ron and his Dad crossed paths and Ron arrived home
first.
Ron walked through the back door and into the kitchen just in time to find the
oil on the stove in flames. He picked up the pan, flaming oil falling to the
floor as he took it to the back door and dumped it in the snow.
He did not even think about what could have happened to him. He just knew he
had to get the fire out. Taking the pan to the back door and dropping it in
the snow seemed to be the fastest way.
If Ron had not walked in the door when he did the whole kitchen would have been
in flames. The carpet was burned where the oil had fallen. But Ron was not
hurt.
Most New Years were not ushered in with such ceremony. We usually did not try
to burn down the kitchen with our fondues.
With New Years day over the next family celebration is January 6.
January 6, is the "real" Twelfth Day of Christmas you know. It is an American
tradition to celebrate the
twelve days of Christmas before December 25.
In some European countries December 25 is strictly a
religious holiday, in celebration of the birth of Jesus.
It was January 6, the Three Kings came bearing gifts. It is told, it took the
Three Kings twelve days to reach
the "Baby Jesus". So this is the day when gifts are exchanged.
The day James was born a nurse in the hospital told this story to me. I would
have love to included this in our family traditions. But you know how kids can
be
so we leave the tree up until January 6. and exchange gifts on December 25 with
our family.
Most families don't have three birthdays directly after the holidays So with
the celebration of the new year comes the time to declare our New Years
Resolutions.
A time to look back on the year that has past and our accomplishments. A time
to evaluate the future and
set goals for the coming year.
With the new year comes good intentions that usually last two maybe three
months at the most.
When making New Year resolutions, or setting goals we should also develop a
plan for success. First do not set goals so high that you can not achieve them.
Remember "Goals are stars to guide us." Not sticks to beats us with. Plan to
succeed not to fail.
Make a list and then confide in someone what your goals are. Report your
progress to your "buddy" and record it in your journal.
We developed a "support" group last year to help us write in our "Gratitude
Journal." Each week we wrote five things we were thankful for and sent it to
the members of our "Thankful e-mail" ring. At the end of the week I compiled
all the lists into one e-mail letter and sent it to all the members.
You don't have to "undo" your act of kindness by tell the group what you did as
your act of kindness. Only report that you completed an act of kindness and how
it made you feel. Keep a record in your journal, express what changes have
taken place in your life by
doing "acts of kindness".
A support group will work for just about anything you want. And if you use the
e-mail as your vehicle you will not even have to leave home for support
meetings.
The first thing you need to do in developing your support group is appoint a
leader. This person will have to be strong enough to continue when the group is
whining "this is hard I don't want to continue."
The leader will not only have to be strong willed but hardhearted to continue
over the protests of the
group.
For some reason most of us fight anything that is good for us. Remember
anything worth while is hard work. But with the Lord as our partner we can
climb
mountains.
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