I evidently have a special grocery cart at Walmart with my name on it because I get it nearly ever time I visit the store. It’s the cart that veers off to the right while I’m pushing it to the left! The crazy thing is way out of whack! It’s probably gotten bumped into by little old ladies, reckless teenagers, and distracted middle-agers! The poor cart needs an adjustment; it’s way out of line. It resists my leading as it stubbornly desires to go the opposite way I’m headed! It’s barely serving its intended purpose. By the time I get home I feel like I’ve had an upper body work-out!

Have you ever asked yourself if you’re headed in the right direction, why you’re here, or what your purpose in living is? A good time to ask yourself those things is at the beginning of a new year. Read the quote below from Nancy Leigh Demoss:

“Once we settle the issue of why we’re living, all of life takes on a different perspective.

• It’s not about me.
• It’s not about my convenience.
• It’s not about my comfort.
• It’s not about my happiness.
• It’s not about who likes me, who accepts me.
• It’s not about, “Am I fulfilled in what I’m doing here in life?”
• All that matters is that God is glorified and that He is pleased with my life. “

Does that summarize you and the way you’re living your life, or do you need to make some adjustments? Get “your cart” going in the right direction instead of fighting and trying to go the opposite way. Today, at the beginning of a new year would be a good time to do that.

(I’ll trade carts with you if I meet you at Walmart!)

Today we stand in front of a closed door with the address “2009” written across its entryway. This is New Year’s Eve. The word “eve” means – the period preceding or leading up to any event or crisis. We have no idea what events are in front of us. As our definition suggests, we have no idea if a crisis stands behind the door waiting for us in the next year. Should that make us retreat in fear? Not if we belong to the God of this universe. We’re all either coming out of a trial, in the midst of one right now, or getting ready to head into one. I’m no prophet, but that is the truth. Because of that, then, we should all be preparing for those times even now.

I have said, and I have heard others say, “If you miss a service at Boones Creek Bible Church, you miss a lot!” The service at BCBC Sunday night was extraordinarily special. If you weren’t there, you missed a wonderful worship service! We had a time of reflecting back on 2008 and recounting God’s goodness and blessings with one another through testimonies. We also sang songs that reflected those testimonies; Great is Thy Faithfulness, Trust His Word, Amazing Grace. We wept as some shared the trials they’d been through in the past year. We, as a church body, had gone through that trial with them. Their victory was our victory. The need that was met was our surplus because we had prayed for them. We are a family, and it was a precious time for hearts to be laid open. We were encouraging one another through the tears and rejoicing as we recounted God’s goodness in the lives of our brothers and sisters in Christ. That’s what the church is for. What a precious gift it is.

January is always a special time for me. It holds the memory of the first date I had with my husband in 1980. It still amazes me how the Lord brought us together. Dale had been dating someone very seriously and I had been dating someone as well. Dale and I had been friends, but nothing more. On the same day we each broke it off with the others we had been dating. I was teaching school at the church where his father pastored and the Christmas break was over, yet he was still home from college. I was in the hallway with my first graders. We chatted, sharing with one another the break-offs. He invited me to go out and go bowling that night “just for fun.” What did I have to lose? We’d been good friends, and we both needed to get our minds on something else! We did go out that night and had a great time together. I was blown over at his kindness, his “gentlemanly” courtesies, and the way he treated me with such thoughtfulness. I was not in love, of course, but I had experienced a date with a man’s man that knew how to treat a girl and I was impressed!