Welcome 2013

Ah, Christmas carols.  They fill your heart with joy, put a little skip in your step, make the season merrier.  You sing along mindlessly as you drive to work, shop for presents, or make dinner. 

 

But have you ever really listened to the words?  Heard what the lyrics were trying to say? 

 

For the past few years, John Lennon's "So this is Christmas" hits me harder and harder. 

 

"So this is Christmas,

And what have you done?

Another year over

And a new one just begun..."

 

Another year is over and what have I done? 

 

Hmm....

 

I've made time to go out to dinner with friends and family.  I've made time to host parties.  I've made time to watch tv, to watch movies, to go shopping, to clean my house. 

 

But have I made the time to do whats most important in life? What have I done to grow as a person?  Have I made the time to help others?

 

In 2012, with the help of some Girls Night In dates, I took 4 donations of homemade gifts to the patients at Rainbow Oncology.  Its a simple gesture that brings a smile to the face of someone who needs it.  What is troubling my heart then you ask?  The shopping, creating and delivering of all four donations only takes up about two weeks of the year.  Two weeks!  What did I do the other 50 weeks of the year?  Was four donations all I was really able  to accomplish in 52 weeks??

 

Which leads to my main goal of this brand new year we're in.

 

In 2013, I resolve to drop the Clark Griswold persona and do what I know I'm capable of. 

 

Everything I do does not need to be done on a grand and massive scale.  Jesus didn't wait until he had enough food to be considered a feast to feed the multitude.  Instead He fed 5,000 people on five loaves of bread and two fish.  I need to apply that lesson to my life.  I have a wonderful, supportive husband and a willing daughter and as a family we alone can reach out to those who need help.  Anything beyond that is a bonus.

 

Welcome, 2013!  Your days are an empty slate waiting for me to make the best of them.  364 opportunities to better myself, to use my talents and to show my son and daughter just how fortunate we are.  And that's exactly what I plan on doing.