Happy day after Christmas Day or Wednesday! 

How about that beautiful white Christmas?  So pretty.  We put an extra blanket on the bed last night and it was so cozy warm that I slept in until a little after eight o’clock. 

Bruce and I took down the tree and packed away the decorations this evening.  What we have left are the linens and dishes.  I need some more boxes for those and then we will be done. 

Prayer alert:  Let us keep former President George H. W. Bush in our prayers as he has been returned to ICU. Also, please keep our niece Emily in your prayers.  She has been diagnosed with Type A and B flu at the same time.  She has always been an over achiever! 

Prayer:  Lord, thank You for another adventure, another day to spend with You. Thank You that Your promises are just as real for me as anyone else.  I surrender in this moment to Your leadership in my life. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”

Hebrews 12: 1

It is almost time to make those time honored “New Year’s Resolutions.”  You know those wonderful promises and plans we make to improve ourselves.  We are going to lose weight, exercise more, watch our budgets more carefully (as the Christmas bills begin to some in), be better housekeepers, clean out closets, etc…We all start these great marathons and don’t make it to the finish line. If you are like me and make a list of all of the things you want to change in the coming new year you soon discover that the list is quite overwhelming and cannot realistically be achieved and still have a job, see your family and other things. 

Okay friends; let us give ourselves a break.  Choosing so many things to change is setting ourselves up for failure and feeling guilty for not achieving what we promised ourselves.  So I have decided to choose one item on my long list to change.  I plan to achieve this goal like a marathon runner.  I will begin slowly and continue running until I have finished.  And when I am tired I am going to call on the help of that great cloud of witnesses to help.  My prayer will be to be faithful to the challenge. When I fall I am going to ask for help in getting up and will continue the race until I reach my desired goal.  I will pray for endurance and God’s good grace to be ever before me.

God set before Jesus a race to be run.  Jesus finished His race.  Jesus modeled a life of love and did not allow sin to weigh Him down. Jesus hung on to God and continued until His final breath the task set before Him by His Father.  Praise God that Jesus finished the race.

Whatever or wherever this journey of a New Year’s leads or provides I pray that God will show me what needs to go into my own heart and life that I can lay aside so it does not hold me back from finishing the task before me.  Every day is surrender.  So let us surrender what weighs us down and keeps us from moving forward in this life of faith.

Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes, throw an extra blanket on the bed, count your blessings and say your prayers.  Love you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com     

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am only moved by what I believe and I believe God.