Day 2-welcoming in the New Year

So, this is day 2 of my year of firsts.  Today I'm going to reach back to the night before last.  It's a little cheat, but I wrote that one of my rules is that I can use the month of December for a couple of firsts.  On New Year's Eve night, my daughter Hannah Grace wanted to stay up until midnight to welcome in the New Year.  I was little skeptical because I saw no reason to do that.  Everyone else was asleep but the two of us and I saw no reason for my 11 year old to stay up and be sleepy the next day; possibly even cranky.  She REALLY wanted to stay up and see the new year in so I relented.  I was very surprised by her excitement when the clock hit 11:58.  She was giddy with enthusiasm.  We are laying in the bed and we are the only two still awake.  When the clock hit 12:00 she literally was shaking with excitement. We hugged and said, "You are the first person I've hugged all year."  Then we kissed and said, "You are the first person I've kissed all year."  She brought up that she had not eaten since last year.  We giggled and laughed for several minutes over all the firsts we were having for the year. 

I was so glad that I let her stay up.  She taught me that this is a bit of what I'm hoping to learn this year.  What a joy to have excitement over life.  A life that is an absolute gift of God.  A life that is here right now.  From eternity past I did not exist on this planet.  Before too many years I won't have the privilege to be alive on this planet.  Because of my faith in Jesus Christ, I believe I will live with Him forever but I still won't have this particular opportunity. That's one of the things driving me.  I feel I'm missing out on too much life by saying no to the opportunities that are here.  Opportunities that once missed, many are never offered again. It's so easy to say no because the opportunities that are offered are sometimes hard, energy and time consuming, but this is life. Life is not something that is going to happen somewhere in the future.  I've been too guilty of what Rick Warren calls "when then" thinking.  When something happens in the future, then I'll really start living.  All that kind of thinking produces is a life of regrets. Life is never going to be perfect; grab the opportunities that are here today to live it to the hilt. 

So, thank you Hannah Grace for the reminder to be excited about this day.

Looking for abundant life today

Barry

3 things I thank God for today
1. A wife that wants me to have abundant life
2. Gift of seeing 2014
3. The ability to connect with people electronically