Happy New Year

Greetings,

I would like to take this time to wish all of you a very happy new year!  I am excited about 2011!  This year I will begin to share a new vision that I have for our church.  I have taken the time time to share this vision with my leadership board and we will begin to craft a new vision for our church. 

The beginning of a new year always brings about a sense of...well..newness!  The old year and all of it's troubles seem to wash away when the clock strikes midnight on December 31st!  I wonder what it is about the new calendar that convinces us that that which has so long been beyond our reach is, suddenly, within our grasp.  All that has, for so long, been unimaginable, suddenly, seems attainable.  It's like a cosmic do over!  The simple act of turning the page on a calendar (rather buying a new calendar) gives us hope for new things to come.  It's like magic! 

I want to encourage you to find that magic in the midst of the new year.  What I mean is that there is no difference from turning your calendar from December to January than there is fro turning your calendar from June to July.  In fact there is no difference from the stroke of midnight on December 31st than there is the stroke of midnight of, say, August 3rd.  Each day is a chance for new things.  We don't need to wait for the new year to experience new things.  The way my life is I can't wait for 365 days to pass just to change my way of thinking or doing.

If there is any validity to a new year's resolution, and I don't think there is, I would encourage you to make a resolution that each new day would be just that...new!  The year 2011 can be great for each us if we simply realize that each day of this year brings its own set of challenges, opportunities, and chances for greatness!  My journey home continues into 2011.  I thank God for the opportunity to turn the page of an old calendar and begin filling in the days of a new one. The year 2010 was a blessing and 2011 is an opportunity.  I will not waste it.  I will make good decisions and I will act upon those decisions.  I have been given the gift of a new year...I will make make the most of it!

May this new year bring blessings and opportunities for greatness.  May your families be blessed and may you seek God's riches in 2011!

Happy New Year,


Derek