It is 2015.   Can’t do much about it except grab this year by the ears and get started.

Well, you don’t have to start that right now. Enjoy a few more holiday days of food, fun, and fellowship. We’ll be watching some football at our home and start talking about the 2015 season. Our New Year’s Day bayberry candles are burning and it smells wonderful. There are no festive smells coming from the kitchen; we won’t be cooking today. Instead, our New Year’s feast will involve sharing a huge submarine sandwich that will be served when kick off time comes around later today. My folks and some family members have gathered already in Olathe, Kansas, for a meal of pork roast, sauerkraut, mashed potatoes and lots of other goodies. Other family members are gathering across the country; others are alone; and, some are working. We are like any other family – we are not all in one place today and we are not perfect people.

Being a family means that we take care for and about one another. We try to be there for each other in the good times and in the bad. We help out when we can. We worry when they worry and we celebrate when those we love celebrate.

The other day, I suggested a resolution for 2015: “Clean up after yourself.”

Today, I am suggesting a second one: “Care about others.” It isn’t hard, but it can be messy. We will say and do the wrong things. We will forget a birthday or remember an old hurt. At times we will wonder if we are making a difference. Just remember what Jesus said,

“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.  Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:12-13)

Happy New Year!!

Jill (Just one of God’s kids)