A New Year

When Jews assemble for their New Year’s celebration, they often recite a prayer which begins: “Today is the birthday of the world; “ Meaning: Whatever was our yesterday, today--as every day--we start anew.

The end of one year and the dawning of a new one provides an excellent opportunity to wipe the slate clean and make a fresh start. Remembering God's faithfulness and forgetting our past mistakes will make entering the new year a time of anticipation.

New Year's Day as well as any new day can be the first day of the rest of our life.

Most people are apprehensive about resolutions, but if you really want to have a healthy, happy and probably prosperous new year it might be wise to adopt a resolution to be grateful to God for the opportunity to start over and the many blessings we receive through Grace & Mercy.

Our Daily Bread says to reflect on these words:
Be Silent and listen to the voice of God (Ps. 46:10).
Pause from a hectic schedule to be refreshed in spirit (ps.42:1-2)
Accentuate the joy of God’s provision through thanksgiving (Ps. 65:9-13).
Exalt the name of God for answered prayer in spite of disappointment (Ps. 40:1-3)
End the day by reflecting on the Lord’s faithfulness (Ps. 119:148)

My New Year’s Resolution :

This year my resolution
Is to draw closer to Thee.
I will follow if you guide me
Is my fervent plea.
I’ll pray & read your word
To others I’ll portray
The love that set me free and
The price you had to pay.
You have showered me with blessings
You watch over me night and day.
So Lord, accept my gratitude
In adoration, I humbly pray.
Wilhelmine

Recipe for a Happy New Year!

Take 12 whole months,
Clean them thoroughly of all bitterness, rancor, hate and jealousy,
In other words, make them just as fresh and clean as possible.

Now cut each month into 28, 30, or 31 different parts--
But don’t make up the whole batch at once;
Instead, prepare it one day at a time out of these ingredients:
Mix well into each day one part faith, one of patience, one of courage, one of work-
-Add one each of hope, faithfulness, generosity and kindness;
Blend with one part prayer, one part meditation and one good deed.

Season the whole with a dash of good spirits, a sprinkle of fun, a pinch of play and
a cupful of good humor.

Pour all of this into a vessel of love, cook thoroughly over radiant joy,
garnish with smiles and serve with quietness, unselfishness,
and cheerfulness--and you are bound to have a Happy New Year.

Unknown Author

New Year's Around the World

To ensure a prosperous and healthy New Year, Americans in the South eat Hoppin’John (a stew of black-eyed peas and rice.

In Mexico, a large fruit centerpiece graces the New Year’s table. At midnight, each guest eats 12 grapes, to welcome the 12 months of the new year.

In Switzerland, godparents traditionally inserted a coin into a Zupfe (a milk-bread loaf) and presented it to their godchildren for good luck in the new year.

In Germany, Karpfen (carp) is served whole; each guest removes a scale and keeps it for good luck. In Berlin, the quest for luck goes even further. To bring about good fortune, locals eat Berliner Pfannkuchen (jelly doughnuts) with wine punch in the first five minutes of the new year.

In Brazil, eating pomegranates is a New Year’s must. The Brazilians believe that the many seeds symbolize wealth for the future.

Italians eat Cotechino (rich pork sausage) with lentils, which are thought to resemble small coins. The more lentils one eats, the richer one will be in the new year. Cappelletti (small heads of pasta filled with cheese and nutmeg similar to tortellini) in capon broth is thought to soothe the stomach, and is traditionally served to those revelers who celebrated a little too much while ringing in the new year.

Hungarians eat roast suckling pig, putting an apple in its mouth and a four-leaf clover in its snout for luck.

In a traditional Moroccan New Year celebration, Herbel (crushed wheat with milk) is eaten as a symbol of prosperity for the coming year. Graif Mekhtamrine-a pancake that inflates when heated-is also served. The bursting of the pancake symbolizes wealth and happiness.

In Greece, a coin is inserted through a small slit in the bottom of Vasilopita (New Year’s bread). The bread is sliced at midnight, and the person who finds the coin has luck for the coming year.

ADVENT

During the Advent Season we end each Sunday Worship Service at First Presbyterian Church, Garland with these words by Ann Weems:

In anticipation of the birth of our Savior, let us mend a quarrel…build peace…seek out a forgotten friend…encourage youth…keep a promise…forgo a grudge…listen…be kind…be gentle…laugh a lot….express our gratitude…welcome a stranger…gladden the heart of a child …take pleasure in beauty and wonder of the earth...speak our love…speak it again…speak it still once again

Having read these words several years ago written by “Ches,” they must be meaningful for us not only during Advent , but anytime.

I’m reminded that: To steal from one writer is plagiarism.
To steal from many is research.
To be inspired by any & all writers is creativity.

THE GREATEST GIFT

God’s own son was born this day,
That we might know the gift of Grace..
In a lowly manger in Bethlehem
Shepherds, wise men all embraced
This Babe.
He grew in wisdom and favor with god
His death on the cross was the sacrifice
That we too might know His LOVE
He gave His life, He paid the price
This man.
Our gifts are small indeed
Compared to one of such magnitude
The greatest gift has been revealed
We turn to Christ in gratitude
Our Savior.
Wilhelmine

Taken from a newspaper article by Chester L. Washington, Publisher of the Los Angeles Times written either in the 1970’s.

If you really want a happy and beautiful Christmas there are many things that you can do. The real spirit of giving is embraced within your heart. For it isn’t always the gift or the gesture which warms the heart of someone else. It’s the thought which prompts your efforts to make others happy during the sacred and joyous Yuletide. Only then, is it possible to grasp the significance of that first Christmas…to savor the sweet music of the angel choir, to envision the star-struck sky, and glimpse behind the eyelids the reality of light that brightened a darkened path and changed the world. Thus to fully enjoy Christmas, why not:

Mend a quarrel………seek out a forgotten friend………write a love letter……..
Share some treasure……..Give a soft answer……………Encourage someone……….Show you loyalty in word and deed……….Keep a promise…….Forego a grudge…………Forgive an enemy…………Listen……………Apologize if you were wrong………..Try to understand……Dispel envy……..Examine your demands of others………..Think first of someone else………..Appreciate……Be kind………..Be gently………..Laugh a little……………laugh a little more…………….Express your gratitude…………….Go to church………Believe in God……Welcome a stranger…………Gladden the heart of a child……………Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth. ………Speak your love……..Speak it again………..Speak it still once again.

Do even some of these things and we sincerely predict that you will have a wonderfully heartwarming and merry Christmas. Ches!

The modern philosopher, Walt Whitman once said: “Behold I do not give lectures or a little charity. When I give, I give myself.” Thus the Supreme gift the Greatest Gift is Love given to us abundantly by our Lord & Savior, Jesus Christ.

ADVENT

During the Advent Season we end each Sunday Worship Service with words by Ann Weems: In anticipation of the birth of our Savior, let us mend a quarrel…build peace…seek out a forgotten friend…encourage youth…keep a promise…forgo a grudge…listen…be kind…be gentle…laugh a lot….express our gratitude…welcome a stranger…gladden the heart of a child …take pleasure in beauty and wonder of the earth...speak our love…speak it again…speak it still once again!

Having read these words several years ago written by “Ches,” they must be meaningful for us not only during Advent, but anytime.

I’m reminded that: To steal from one writer is plagiarism.
To steal from many is research.
To be inspired by any & all writers is creativity.

THE GREATEST GIFT

God’s own son was born this day,
That we might know the gift of Grace..
In a lowly manger in Bethlehem
Shepherds, wise men all embraced
This Babe.
He grew in wisdom and favor with God
His death on the cross was the sacrifice
That we too might know His LOVE
He gave His life, He paid the price
This man.
Our gifts are small indeed
Compared to one of such magnitude
The greatest gift has been revealed
We turn to Christ in gratitude
Our Savior.
Wilhelmine Mitchell

Taken from a newspaper article by Chester L. Washington, Publisher of the Los Angeles Times written either in the 1970’s or 80’s.

If you really want a happy and beautiful Christmas there are many things that you can do. The real spirit of giving is embraced within your heart. For it isn’t always the gift or the gesture which warms the heart of someone else. It’s the thought which prompts your efforts to make others happy during the sacred and joyous Yuletide. Only then, is it possible to grasp the significance of that first Christmas…to savor the sweet music of the angel choir, to envision the star-struck sky, and glimpse behind the eyelids the reality of light that brightened a darkened path and changed the world. Thus to fully enjoy Christmas, why not:

Mend a quarrel………seek out a forgotten friend………write a love letter……..
Share some treasure……..Give a soft answer……………Encourage someone……….Show you loyalty in word and deed……….Keep a promise…….Forego a grudge…………Forgive an enemy…………Listen……………Apologize if you were wrong………..Try to understand……Dispel envy……..Examine your demands of others………..Think first of someone else………..Appreciate……Be kind………..Be gently………..Laugh a little……………laugh a little more…………….Express your gratitude…………….Go to church………Believe in God……Welcome a stranger…………Gladden the heart of a child……………Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth. ………Speak your love……..Speak it again………..Speak it still once again.
Do even some of these things and we sincerely predict that you will have a wonderfully heartwarming and merry Christmas. Ches

The modern philosopher, Walt Whitman once said: “Behold I do not give lectures or a little charity. When I give, I give myself.” Thus the Supreme gift the Greatest Gift is Love given to us abundantly by our Lord & Savior, Jesus Christ.