happy new year !!!

i was doing my daily allowance of heavy thinking. for some reason, as is the case here, most of that thinking takes place in the shower. it's where i was when i decided to give my life over to God. heck! i even proposed to my wife in the bathroom......IT IS WAY MORE ROMANTIC THAN IT SOUNDS!!! but today, on this particular occasion i was thinking about the upcoming holidays, new years especially.

i was brainstorming to try and come up with a fun plan for what we could do on NYE. usually rie and i and friends go to kalamazoo for the new years fest (**i will explain the joys of K'zoo NYE at a later time.).
i was thinking about my old crew that i used to "roll with" back in the day and how after midnight and all the hugging and kissing, we would all get into a big huddle and take turns saying what we were thankful for and anything else that had been weighing on our minds and hearts. i was trying to picture what that would be like if we did it with our group of friends. and as i usually do, i started pretending and acting my part, but before i knew it, i had taken my turn in the huddle and had started flowing out a beautiful prayer. i tried to get out of the shower as quickly as i could so i could write it down and i would like to share it with you as best i can remember:

Great God, thank you for everyone that we have been fortunate enough to interact with this year, whether we paid attention or not, each one of them has helped to shape who we are at this moment.
Father, the symbolism of the new year, of resolutions and fresh starts, of hope to those who need it, all of these bring the excitement of change. Unfortunately for most, just a short time later these feeling have all been replaced by dejection, failure and giving up. the year seems too long, or the obstacle seems to mighty.
and that is why i thank you Father. because your mercies renew each day. too often we worry about how we cannot be perfect and cannot give our goals a flawless effort.

but with your love and your gift, fresh each morning, no matter what time we rise, we can continue to fight. each morning is its own new year, with the past being past and the present the only thing we can ever do anything about. thank you for knowing that our little minds and bodies are not built for the long haul and that we need you to pick us up when we fall, and to carry us when we cannot walk. so i thank you that everyday is a new. and i pray that our calendars will be filled with january 1st's. and that your touch will be all over every date in it.