Thoughts for a New Year

Our hope is not in the new year…

but in the One who makes all things new.

Faith tells me no matter

what lies ahead of me this

year, God is already there.

~ TOBYMAC

The best way to start TODAY

is with a PRAYER,

 a SMILE,

 and a GRATEFUL HEART.

* Tip your server.

* Return your shopping cart.

* Hold the door for the person behind you.

* Let someone into your lane.

Small acts can have a ripple effect.

That’s how we change the world.

Accept both compliments and criticism.

It takes both sun and rain for a flower to grow.

~ Katie Murch

ASKING GOD

“WHAT CAN

I LEARN?”

INSTEAD OF

“WHY ME?”

IS A MUCH

BETTER

PLACE TO

PARK OUR MINDS.

~ TOBYMAC

GROW THROUGH WHAT YOU GO THROUGH.

Teach your children two things

and you’ve taught them well:

to love the Lord with

all of their heart,

to have a heart of

compassion for others.

~ The Time Warp

Children hear everything you say.

And they mimic everything you do.

Give them a good example.

No matter how long you have traveled in the wrong direction, you can always turn around.

WHAT THE NEW YEAR

BRINGS TO YOU

DEPENDS A GREAT DEAL

ON WHAT YOU BRING

TO THE NEW YEAR.

~ Vern McLellan

“There is always, always, always SOMETHING to be thankful for.”

~ Ann Voscamp

PRACTICE THE PAUSE.

WHEN IN DOUBT, PAUSE.

WHEN ANGRY, PAUSE.

WHEN TIRED, PAUSE.

WHEN STRESSED, PAUSE.

AND WHEN YOU PAUSE, PRAY.

~ TOBYMAC

To strengthen the muscles of your heart, the best exercise is lifting someone else’s spirit whenever you can.

~ Dodinsky

You can’t control the

minutes you play,

but you can control

how you play the

minutes you get.

“I believe that appreciation is a holy thing – that when we look for what’s best in a person we happen to be with at the moment, we’re doing what God does all the time.  So in loving and appreciating our neighbor we’re participating in something sacred.”

~ Fred Rogers

Morning is God’s way of saying one

more time, go make a difference, 
touch a heart, encourage a mind, 
inspire a soul and enjoy the day.

“To be kind is more important than to be right.  Many times, what people need is not a brilliant mind that speaks but a special heart that listens.”

~ F. Scott Fitzgerald

Don’t tell someone

to get over it.

Help them get

through it.

~ Sue Fitzmaurice

“May your choices reflect your hopes not your fears.”

~ Nelson Mandela

“Every

accomplishment

starts with

the decision

to try.”

~ John F. Kennedy

“The greatest gift you can give someone is your time.  Because when you give your time, you are giving a portion of your life that you will never get back.”

~ Rick Warren

Don’t mix bad words with

your bad mood.

You’ll have many opportunities

to change your mood,

but you’ll never get

the opportunity to replace

the words you spoke…

“What lies behind us and lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us.”

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Never be afraid to trust an unknown

future to a known God.”

~ Corrie Ten Boom

Philippians is seen as the happiest book of the Bible, yet it was written in prison.  Your circumstance does not determine your joy.

“MAY WE THINK OF

FREEDOM, NOT AS THE

RIGHT TO DO AS WE

PLEASE, BUT AS THE

OPPORTUNITY TO DO

WHAT IS RIGHT.”

~ Peter Marshall

You can’t change how people treat you or what they say about you.  All you can do is change how you react to it.

~ Mahatma Gandhi

“Yesterday is the past,

tomorrow’s the future,

but today is a gift.

That’s why it’s called the present.”

~ Bil Keane

Trust in the LORD with all your heart

     and lean not on your own understanding;

in all your ways submit to him,

     and he will make your paths straight.

Proverbs 3:5-6

The LORD has done great things for us and we are filled with joy.

Psalm 126:3

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22-23

He is a shield to all those who take refuge in him.

Psalm 18:30

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here.

2 Corinthians 5:17

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Ephesians 2:10

Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Philippians 2:4

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Philippians 4:13

20/20 Vision

Throughout this past year, it was more and more noticeable that the cataracts on both of my eyes were distorting my vision and making it difficult to read and decipher small print as well as see things clearly.  After an eye appointment, the doctor recommended having the cataracts removed as well as considering lasik to correct my vision.  It is amazing how much clearer and easily I can see since the procedures.

As grateful as I am for improved physical eyesight, I also want to make sure I am desiring that for my spiritual eyesight as well.  Whereas I had no control over what was happening to my physical eyesight, I do have choices to make daily about what I view, read, and the ways I look at people and situations.  I want to learn to see and respond to life through God’s eyes and to keep my eyes focused on Jesus. 

“Father’s Eyes”

By Amy Grant

And on that day when we will pay for all the deeds we have done,

Good and bad they’ll all be had to see by everyone.

And when you’re called to stand and tell just what you saw in me,

More than anything I know, I want your words to be,

She had her father’s eyes,

Her father’s eyes;

Eyes that found the good in things,

When good was not around;

Eyes that found the source of help,

When help would not be found;

Eyes full of compassion,

Seeing every pain;

Knowing what you’re going through,

And feeling it the same.

Just like my father’s eyes.

May 2020 be the year that we have 20/20 eyesight, a heart and eyes that clearly see things from God’s point of view, and an obedient spirit and response. 

Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.

Psalm 34:8

Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.

Psalm 119:18

Turn my eyes from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word.

Psalm 119:37

“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light.”

Matthew 6:22

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

2 Corinthians 4:18

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.

Hebrews 12:1-2a

I lift up my eyes to the mountains –

     where does my help come from?

My help comes from the LORD,

     the Maker of heaven and earth.

Psalm 121:1-2

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.

Ephesians 1:18-19a