Ecclesiastes
"3:1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
3:2 a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
3:3 a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
3:4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
3:5 a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
3:6 a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away;
3:7 a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
3:8 a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.
3:9 What gain have the workers from their toil?
3:10 I have seen the business that G_d has given to everyone to be busy with.
3:11 He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what G_d has done from the beginning to the end.
3:12 I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live;
3:13 moreover, it is God's gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil."
I have never been very successful in New Year goal setting, nor in resolutions. I think that after I learned that habits tend to take twenty-one days to be internalized, it wilted the practice for me. I mean I floss, try to watch what and how much I eat, exercise with irregularity, and generally try to be my choice of healthy. Well, I am at least health conscience. I know when I have moved from moderation to excess, although usually determined after the fact. Yet, I have been fairly successful at resolving to recognize, to be happy, and be thankful for all the precious gifts given to me each year.
I am thankful for all my blessings, the great and the small:
For handy parking spaces, I am thankful.
For unexpected phone calls and messages, I am thankful.
For daily laughter and happiness, I am thankful.
For good health, I am thankful. Even when a slight cold or discomfort arises, it reminds me of how rarely this happens to me and I am thankful.
For comfortable a retirement, food, and home which I can share with family and friends, I am thankful.
For all the amazing people in my life whom I get to call friends, and for the opportunity to better serve them with my life, I am thankful.
For an extended family out in the world, who I rarely am able to embrace, but dearly love, I am thankful.
For our grandson Maddox, who is funny and kind as he learns and grows in Creation, I am thankful.
For Natalie, Haleigh, and Cameron, our wonderful daughters, who each brings their unique talents, pride, and joy into my life each day, I am thankful.
For Hunter, Cameron's loving husband and the father our newest delight, grandson Oaklyn, I am thankful.
For the presence of Steven, the young man Haleigh has chosen to be her mate, I am thankful.
For Tedna, my bride and the best friend, from my childhood to my present, the love of my life and the perennial source of newness and wholeness for my life, I am so very thankful.
For a continual presence of the forgiving G_d of my prayers, who is the fountain of all that I have, I am thankful.
King of the Universe, each day in this new year teach me how to be kinder, more generous, and more grateful for and towards all the gifts of happiness, light and life that you have given to me, to my family, and to my friends. Amen.
Pax
jbt
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