IT IS 2015; SO WHAT????

If you can stay awake late enough, you will be a witness to an incredible event.  It happens at MIDNIGHT every year as December 31 morphs into January 1.  The countdown begins as the “Ball” drops; we kiss our loved ones (if they are still awake) and hang up a new calendar.   A new year begins; a new chapter in our life; the old is passed, the new has begun and we celebrate.

If you are connected on Face book, you have read post after post declaring how happy some are to say “goodbye” to 2014 and “hello” to 2015.  Many are excited to begin a new page in their life saga others are just anxious to put all of their 2014 bad experiences behind them.  I could take the time to look at their 12/31/2013 updates and I would venture to say that I would find some of the exact posts; the year being the only difference.  So was 2014 better?  Did 2013 stay contained between January and December?  Apparently NOT!!!!  There was no magic, nothing changed and now we are counting down the hours of 2014, once again expecting the magic that didn’t happen in 2014 has just been waiting for 2015.  Sorry to “burst your bubble,” “rain on your parade,” or “drop the ball,” but when you wake up, January 1, 2015, life will be exactly as you left it when you fell asleep on December 31, 2014. 

In regards to the foreign policy of the United States, John Bolton, former UN Ambassador stated, “It was a bad year and it is not going to get any better.”  Although pessimistic, the statement is ABSOLUTELY TRUE.  Unless policies are instituted to affect change, conditions will not improve solely because we passed the 365 day mark.  Your circumstances do not magically change because you put up a new calendar or write a different year on your checks.  You will not wake up with an unquenchable desire to be healthy but if you say NO to certain foods and YES to moving more, change WILL begin.  There will still be “awesome” sales in 2015 inviting you to just “slide” that charge card or debit card but your bank account will be larger if you decide that you have enough stuff.  Your relationship with God will be even weaker unless you set the time aside to get in touch with God through prayer and the Word.   365 more days will pass in your life, the calendar will count down to December 31, 2015 and you will be looking forward to a better year in 2016 UNLESS you institute “life policies” to affect change.

Your problems may be centered around family, a job, substance abuse, money, health and there may be some circumstance that are beyond your control; it may take a little honest soul searching and a long session in front of a mirror but in every situation YOU CAN CHANGE YOU!  Begin by being THANKFUL.  If you cannot find anything in your life for which to be thankful or to praise God, start by thanking that you are still breathing and woke to a New Year. Next, find someone else that you can HELP along life’s road.  Getting your mind off of yourself will give you a new perspective and you may find that your circumstance are not quite so bad.  Finally, find one thing you can CHANGE in YOU!  Perhaps it is saying no to that piece of chocolate, cutting up a charge card, getting up an hour earlier and spending that time in prayer and meditation or maybe it could be as simple as a phone call and saying, “I love you.”  Only God knows what things you will encounter this year on your journey but one thing you can be sure of; December 31, 2015 will come faster than you can imagine and some will be happy to see January 1, 2016 while others will say “It was the best year ever.” 

IT IS 2015, SO WHAT?

2010 RESOLUTIONS

Yes, I stayed up last night to watch the ball drop in Times Square, welcome in the New Year and share the first kiss of 2010 with my sweetheart. This morning I awoke to the real start of the New Year. The time for excuses is over and the future is now! I have suddenly arrived at the wall of everything I should be doing but put off until the New Year. It’s time for action!

The dictionary defines “Resolution” as a resolve or determination. The top 10 resolutions for 2010 are: stop smoking, get fit, lose weight, enjoy life more, quit drinking, get organized, learn something new, get out of debt, spend more time with the family, and help others. Many were also on the list for 2009 and probably all prior years. Number three, six, eight and ten are usually on my list of resolutions. Losing weight is a resolution I tend to make every Sunday night, the last day of every month and after every holiday. True it is usually broken sooner than I plan, but that only brings me back to where I started and the opportunity to start again.

Many people are averse to declaring a New Year’s resolution because they are afraid of failing or from past experience know the difficulty of keeping the resolution for an extended period of time. I prefer to look at resolutions as goals and I have been setting goals every year since I was old enough to understand that January 1 started a new year. A person who refuses to set goals will never accomplish anything. I would rather set a goal and have to start over or change it, than wander aimlessly with no focus.

I can guarantee you that my list will include losing weight, exercising more, becoming more organized and helping others, but my soul yearns for something deeper. This verse in Colossians is my 2010 New Year’s Resolution. Colossians 4: 2-6 “Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving; 3meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains, 4that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak. 5Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. 6Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.”

2010 Resolutions: 1. Pray earnestly, always careful to be thankful. 2. Ask God daily to show me the hearts hungry to hear His word. 3. Seek for wisdom toward unbelievers and those who are wavering in their faith. 4. Be careful to not waste the limited opportunities I have to share truth with people stumbling in darkness. 5. Let the Grace of God overshadow my words that I may not cause an offense.

As I look forward to the year that lies before me, I realize I have 365 days, 52 weeks, 12 months or as my nephew Michael pointed out, 525,600 minutes to walk in any direction and to accomplish anything that I choose. The goals I set and my efforts in completing the goals will determine what I have allowed God to accomplish through me and who I have become on December 31, 2010.

NEW YEAR'S GOALS

The Christmas trees are down and all the decorations packed away for the next 11 months. Five days into the New Year, I have written 2008 on checks without a correction and more impressive, I am 4 days into my new way of eating. Yes, like millions of people, my resolution was to eat healthier, exercise more and fit into the piles of clothes in my other closet. Many people refuse to make New Year’s Resolutions because they feel they will just be broken. In my opinion that is a cop-out. If you don’t want to go on a diet, don’t!! To me a resolution is the same as setting a goal for the coming year. I can guarantee if you never set a goal, you will never progress to a new level. If you never set a goal, you have no responsibility to take a step toward change and you will stay the same. So, call it New Year’s Goals!!!

I am asking all my faithful readers to be my accountability group. Every week, I am going to write a progress report, good or bad. If I find a good recipe I will share it and ask if you have any tips, leave a comment or email me at susan.niswonger@sbcglobal.net.

So, My first week has been good and here’s a new, simple recipe.

Susan’s Italian Chicken
4 thawed, skinless, boneless chicken breasts
½ cup Fat Free Italian Dressing
1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs
Marinate for at least 2 hours in ½ cup fat free Italian Dressing. Take chicken out of marinade, leaving only what clings to chicken, Toss out remaining marinade
Place in a sprayed baking pan, sprinkle with seasoned bread crumbs
Bake uncovered at 400 for 30 minutes.

Here’s to a happier, healthier New Year.

THINK ON THESE THINGS

Greg Mancina, Saginaw News columnist says good riddance to 2007 and that there is no way 2008 could get much worse than 2007. He cites the funding of the “failure” in Iraq, laments the toy recall due to lead, the looming mortgage crisis, the declining American dollar, steroid use by our sport’s heroes, a Harry Potter character’s outing, congressional bathroom scandals and how you could not find the one safe toy, the Nintendo Wii, on the shelf. The only bright moments during the year that made his list were the UFO sighting by Dennis Kucinich, O. J. Simpson back on trial, the Yankees not winning the World Series and the “Don’t Tase Me Bro” man at the John Kerry rally. How sad !!!

Mr. Mancina’s problem is that he is focusing on the half-empty aspect of events from 2007. Someone looking at the glass as half-full might mention that even the Democrats are finally admitting that the surge is working, 97% of American borrowers pay their mortgage payments on time every month, and companies care enough to issue recalls instead of cover-ups that would harm the younger population. Perhaps we can use the seamier side of life to teach our children that hitting a baseball does not make one a hero, even leaders make wrong choices that result in unpleasant consequences and there are much more important things in life than the latest video game craze.

In January 2007, I lost my job due to the sale of my company. I chose to look at this as an opportunity to spend more time with my family and volunteer at the local homeless shelter. In October my mother-in-law passed away. While we miss her greatly, we rejoice that she is no longer suffering and is at peace due to her faith in God. The Saturday before Christmas, my sister and brother-in-law were involved in what could have been a serious accident. Although the truck was totaled, we paused to give thanks that they escaped with only sore muscles and a few bruises. It is really all about how you choose to view events.

The Apostle Paul said it best in Philippians 4:8, Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

As I look back at 2007, I choose to be thankful for the many blessings and learn valuable lessons from the unpleasant events. Standing at the brink of 2008, I anticipate a year filled with success and failure, happiness and sorrow, always with the assurance that tomorrow the sun will still be shining and the flowers will eventually bloom.

NEW BEGINNINGS

Today is the last day of 2007. Not one person I have spoken with has said that the end of the year has slowly crept up on them. I felt, as everyone did, that I had just put Christmas 2006 to rest when it was time to decorate the house for 2007. I hardly remember the month of December and now there are just a few hours left in the year. We all remember the excitement, anticipation and anxiety we felt December 31, 1999, yet in only two years a new decade will begin. Our life is truly “like a vapor.”

For most people, January 1 or 2, if you watch the bowl games, offers a new beginning. Most people resolve to start a new diet, exercise regularly, pray and read the Bible faithfully, stop this habit or start a new lifestyle. We have a whole year of choices lying ahead. There is nothing we can do to fix the choices we made over the previous 12 months and nothing good comes from living a life of regret. What matters now are the choices you will make today. You can choose to drown in bitterness or forgive and overcome the hurts you have suffered. You can choose to be consumed by anger or live in the Joy of the Lord. You can choose to live a selfish life or one of compassion. You can choose to follow your own path or the one God has prepared for you since the day you were born. You are standing on the threshold of a wonderful, fulfilled life, but you must step over the threshold to experience God’s blessing. How sad to arrive at December 31, 2008, the beginning of a new decade, or the end of your life still standing on the threshold.

Revelation 3:8 says, “Behold I have set before you an open door and no man can shut it.”

January 1, 2008 …. A new beginning …. An open door …. Don’t get stuck at the threshold.