Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.–Hebrews 11:1

When a new year arrives we don’t know what to expect.  We hope for a year of wonder & surprise.  We hope for good things to happen.  Sometimes they do, and sometimes they don’t.

As my boss often says, hope is not a strategy.  Planning and doing is a much better of way of assuring that good things will happen.  But, bad things are going to happen too, no matter what we do to prevent them.  We can’t stop illness, accidents, and death.  It’s part of life. Some years are going to be better than others.

I wish for you a year of wonder & surprise & joy & all things good.

At five, Breezy is going through a phase of life that makes me laugh.  The last time she stayed with us she must have said this phrase at least 50 times, “Well, I never did do THAT before.”  “Papa, did you ever see THAT before?”  “Gigi, did you ever do THAT before?”  So many things she experiences are firsts for her.  And she is in awe of every first.

I don’t tell her that, yes, I’ve done it and seen it all before.  But my joy and wonder comes in that I’ve never seen HER do it before; I’ve never seen HER experience it before.  And THAT brings me much happiness.

I don’t know what 2016 is going to bring. But I pray that it is going to bring wonder & surprise.  Prayer is a strategy; and I use it often.  😉

God bless you with a year filled with wonder & surprise & joy & all things good.

Happy New Year!

dmzh

 “The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom the emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand wrapped in awe, is as good as dead —his eyes are closed. The insight into the mystery of life, coupled though it be with fear, has also given rise to religion. To know what is impenetrable to us really exists, manifesting itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty, which our dull faculties can comprehend only in their most primitive forms—this knowledge, this feeling is at the center of true religiousness.”   Albert Einstein