Happy New Year

We hope it’s not too late to wish everyone a Happy New Year. We wonder how many have learned to date their communications 2025 yet? The slipping over from one year to the next seems ever so much more traumatic than from one month to the next. For one thing, there is always that term “resolution” hanging in the air.
Most of us are aware of our shortcomings. And most of us know where we could improve. Somehow, a whole new year seems to be the appropriate time to start to erase bad habits or weaknesses. For example, in my procrastinator’s paradise, it would be nice to see the surface of my dining room table beyond the small area around the placemat where a meal is served. Bills - waiting to be paid; records of bills paid - waiting to be filed; a box of thank you cards - I seem to have a large number of generous friends; old mail, catalogs and magazines - waiting to be read; bird guide and binoculars - just in case; and more. It would only require an hour’s worth of work, and the surface of my dining room table would emerge and a burdensome feeling of clutter would fade away. But the secret to keeping New Year’s resolutions, is not to correct something. It’s to make it a permanent change. It’s to get past the “I’m too busy right now, I’ll fix it later” syndrome after I slip back.
How true this is in our lives. “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; ...” [Romans 3:23].. Although a cluttered dining room table doesn’t quite compare to a facet of our lives that needs fixing, the corrections that we seek to make with our New Year’s resolutions – or any other time of the year – require work, but especially perseverance. It will be inevitable that we slip backward occasionally if we’re going to try making that desired improvement. It will, however, be wonderfully commendable if we persist, and succeed! We’ll never be perfect, but what a joy if we find ourselves just a little bit less “short of the glory of God.”
A blessed New Year to all. Virginia
Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold , all things are become new. II Corinthians 5:17