January Jottings 2018

Jottings...

The time around New Year’s Eve and Day was always special when I was growing up. We would celebrate the passing of the old year and the entry of the new year with friends and family by playing board games, having great snacks and as midnight drew closer, turning on the TV so we had an accurate count. When the new year hit, spouses would kiss and us kids would run outside to make noise, which, as I got older, included setting off fireworks. Sometimes earlier in the evening my parents and brother and I would go out to eat then catch an early evening movie before going on to a party. New Year’s Day meant parades on TV and later football and a great meal with family of pork and sauerkraut.

Sometimes during this process we would celebrate one, maybe two birthdays. My father’s birthday was December 31 and my birthday is January 3. I like being born in January. As I have heard, everybody who is anybody was born in January! What I didn’t always like was having my celebration rolled into my dad’s birthday or the new year’s celebration. I wanted to feel special. I understand it could have been worse. I could have been born on December 25. My family did great with my celebration and the gifts they gave. I just wanted to be even more the focus of attention.

Now that I am much older both the birthday and the new year’s celebrations have been toned down quite a bit. That yearning to feel special has not gone away, though. My wife Judi, my kids and grandkids, and my friends at Cole and elsewhere do make me feel special. I understand that yearning I have is how God made me and everyone. God intended it to be satisfied in our relationship with Him. We often seek to satisfy it in unhealthy ways in our relationships with others or through our work or in social media.

As I enter 2018 I want to cultivate anew my love for Jesus. I want to commit to daily time of Bible reading and prayer (where I discover how special I really am!). I want to reach out and minister to those who have lost hope or had that sense of specialness in God’s eyes beaten out of them (metaphorically and literally). I want to love on and help my Cole family process whatever God brings in 2018. Please join me in this journey.

- Pastor Brian