It is the last day of the year.  Here in Alberta the temperature gauge is set at -29 C and factoring in the wind chill, it’s -40 C.  That is blistering cold!  To make matters worse, I have been experiencing a head cold that has kept me house bound for the past week.  For a germaphobe like me, this just adds insult to injury.

I should be used to our winters but naively, I still hope that one year Canada will be spared the Polar Plunge and we will experience an “unseasonably warm” winter.  Going against political correctness, Global Warming doesn’t seem to apply to us here.

Still, as the New Year is only hours away now, it’s not the cold or my head cold that has me frozen.  It’s wondering what 2018 will be like?  What awaits me this year?  What can I look forward to, and what will stymie me in the pursuit of meeting personal goals and aspirations this year?

I don’t make resolutions, because I fail so miserably in keeping them.  Still, I believe it is important to plan ahead, think “one-day-at-a-time” and pray God’s Will be done in every decision.  He’s in charge.  Not me.  It is a good thing to remember that and repeat it daily.

God is in control.

Not me.

Repeat…

A New Year should be a time of reflection and renewal.  I like to start the New Year thanking the Lord for His mercies that are new EVERY morning.  In an often perplexing and out-of-control world, HE never changes.  He is CONSTANT.  That gives me great confidence about this upcoming year.  Whatever circumstance I find myself this year, He will never leave me or forsake me.

And again, when I find myself in a circumstance, pleasant or unpleasant, that God has orchestrated to bring Glory to HIM, I must always remember:

God is in control.

Not me.

Repeat…

Amen.