New Year 2009‏

Dearest Ones,

New Year's Eve is one of those few days in the year when just about everybody is thinking about the same thing. There's something dramatic about watching the old year slip away by counting the hours left in it, then to the minutes, down to the seconds when the old year has passed into history, never to come again. If there is anything we truly need in this New Year, it is to get closer to God and to grow in the love of our Savior. Prayer and good Christian self-talk go a long way to having that Happy New Year that we have been wishing each other. Christian self-talk is handling the stress that comes your way by reacting to it in a Christian manner. After all, it isn't what happens to us that determines whether we will be sad, mad, or glad. No, it is what we tell ourselves about what happens to us that creates our emotional state. What we tell ourselves as Christians is largely shaped by how familiar we are with the Bible. After all, God's word tells us that it is a lamp for our feet and a light for our path. Jesus himself used psalm 31 for his comfort in the last thing he said on the cross: "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." He set the example for us to pray fervently and often about any events we cannot control. There may be times in this coming new year when you too, will feel cut off from God's sight, just as Jesus did. You may wonder if God has forgotten you. Learn not to nurture your fears. It's not for nothing, the Bible tell us to FEAR NOT so many times. That doesn't mean you can't have normal fear - the kind that makes you move out of danger. It is abnormal fear that we need to avoid. Abnormal fear is the fear of life. The only way out of this is the perfect love of Jesus that casts out our fear. This new year, face your fears. Don't settle down to live permanently with your fear. If you do, you'll never be happy. Fears are removed by replacing them with faith. Say to yourself again and again: "I trust in you, O Lord; my life is in your hands." This is the only known cure for fear. Deal with your fears. Sometimes, it helps to talk about them with a friend and then get to work for Jesus! I have been praying that Jesus will tell me what he wants me to do this new year and this is what I came up with: "to never consciously hurt anyone; to do as much good as possible, as often as possible, and in as many places as possible." Above all, I want to have a thankful heart and not take people or things for granted. The kind little acts, so thoughtfully done by others, the favors of friends, if I do not give a thankful response, then I have failed miserably and I will be most unhappy. The beauty God gives in nature, so often I take for granted; such as, the awesome beauty of silently falling snow has a way of uniting me with God. Each one-of-a-kind snowflake reminds me that each of us is wonderfully and uniquely created by God, and the peaceful white blanket is the security of His tender love for us, and the peace He offers us each day. If only I notice and remain grateful, I can see God's beauty everywhere.I pray you will be brave enough to look at your trials - not through fear but through hope, holding tight to the hand of Our father. I pray you will have strength to bear sorrow and pain, if it comes. Our journey of faith never ends. It continues and grows with each passing year, as we search for the inner peace that only God can give.

For all that has been, Thanks!" For all that will be, "Yes."

Sister Francelle