WHAT A DIFFERENCE.....

…..a day makes - yesterday the sea was grey and leaden and the wind was howling - but today, the sun is shining, the sky is blue and the sea is reasonably calm - very often like our lives.  One day we can be feeling quite low and despondent and the next day, perhaps just because the sun is shining, we feel quite different.

A new year often means a new start in all sorts of ways - perhaps we need to move on from a relationship that hasn’t been working for a while, or maybe we need to stretch out our hand to someone who is having a hard time.  There may be someone we need to forgive or perhaps we need to forgive ourself. 

2015 could be an ideal opportunity to practise what we have learned in the last twelve months or to learn a new skill - now that someone has given me back the piano she borrowed last year, perhaps I should be trying to learn to play that!

Being retired gives me more time (well not more, but at least I am not always looking at the clock!) and only this morning, whilst shopping in Sainsbury’s, a lady opened her heart up and told me things she said she had never told anyone else.  I know I can talk, but I believe that God has given me the ability to listen without judging and to encourage people - another gift I can cultivate this year.

Whatever we do, we can be sure that it will impact on someone in our circle of friends - virtual or real - so for all my blip friends and for those reading this, I pray God’s love, peace, hope and joy to you for the year ahead.

May God make your year a happy one!
Not by shielding you from all sorrows and pain,
But by strengthening you to bear it, as it comes;
Not by making your path easy,
But by making you sturdy to travel any path;
Not by taking hardships from you,
But by taking fear from your heart;
Not by granting you unbroken sunshine,
But by keeping your face bright, even in the shadows;
Not by making your life always pleasant,
But by showing you when people and their causes need you most,
And by making you anxious to be there to help. 
And as you bless others, may you be truly blessed too.

Anon