One morning this quote from Elbert Hubbard was on my daily horse calendar, “A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you.” Yes, it’s familiar. I’ve heard it before, and it sounds good. But does anyone really have a friend like that? A friend who knows all about you, all your deep dark secrets, all those sinful thoughts you’ve had and sinful deeds you’ve done? I’ve never had a friend like that. I don’t think even the most outgoing, loquacious extrovert tells his or her friends everything. The only one I know who really wants to hear about my deepest darkest sins is God. He knows about them anyway, of course, but he is happy when we recognize our faults and come to him to confess and repent. Until we do, our forgiving, merciful God loves us anyway and patiently waits. He is that kind of friend.

Living through this pandemic has given me more time for introspection, which can be good or bad. In my conversations with God, I whine about what I can’t do anymore. I’m old, I say, and I’m frustrated I can’t do what I used to do. And, on top of that, what I can do is limited by this virus. I feel I have no purpose in life. God says, I don’t care about what you can or can’t do for me. It doesn’t matter. You’re my love object. What? God says, You’re the object of my love. You were created to be loved by me. That’s your purpose. I try to wrap my mind around that. Even if I were totally bedridden and had to be spoon fed to survive I would still have purpose? Yes, God says, I don’t need anything from you. I love you! I created you for love.

Last Thanksgiving, my younger daughters were teasing their older sister after noticing her spice rack was organized alphabetically. It was all in fun as they admire her organizational skills and are quite organized themselves. As I smiled at their antics, I asked, “How did you learn to do that?” She replied, “I learned it from you.” Oh right, I guess my spice rack is organized that way, but that practice wasn’t high on my list of what to teach my children. It reminded me that you can teach your children about God and how to drive and how to budget their money, but they learn more from what you do than from what you tell them.

Fourteen degrees may not seem like much to my northern friends but it’s cold in north Texas! As I was out and about this morning I saw last year’s foals flat on their sides, napping in the sun after a freezing night. Only one had its head up. He or she was on watch patrol, I guess. Horses, unlike us, are instinctively aware of danger and constantly on the alert. We humans can be naïve about the dangerous world we live in, and especially when it comes to spiritual dangers. The apostle Paul says put on the whole armor of God to protect yourself (Ephesians 6:11). In my experience, every time I’ve had a truly difficult trial in my life, it’s been right before God had a job for me to do. Satan knows our vulnerabilities better than we do and knows how to exploit them. Gear up!

Made my bed this morning—again. Most very morning, unless not at home, I make my bed, 365 days a year. When I swept the kitchen this morning, I knew it wouldn’t be the last time. I put on a load of towels in the washer, knowing it would need to be done again next week. Do you sometimes feel as if life is pretty much doing the same thing over and over until you die? These thoughts reminded me of the writings of the 17^th century monk, Brother Lawrence, who saw God glorified in every service, whether in washing dishes, cooking or repairing his brothers’ sandals. “We ought not to be weary of doing little things for the love of God, who regards not the greatness of the work, but the love with which it is performed” (The Practice of the Presence of God).

Sometimes it’s good while praying to stop and think about what you’re saying to God. At least, good for me anyway. Many times while praying I’ve caught myself asking God to please remember a friend or family member or someone’s health problems. But God doesn’t need to be reminded. God knows all our circumstances, whether good or bad, at every second. He knows and he remembers. He doesn’t need my reminders. He isn’t forgetful like me and for that I’m so thankful! Not only does he not forget, he knows others’ needs and our needs before we do ourselves. He’s already working on the solution before we realize there’s a problem. Our good and faithful God!

Are you mean? Dallas Willard said the reason more people don’t go to church is because Christians are mean, self-righteous know-it-alls. I could add judgmental to that as well, although it’s akin to self-righteousness. What’s wrong with us? As soon as the Holy Spirit begins working with us, we forget what we were spiritually rescued from and get proud of ourselves! What did ourselves have to do with it! We can be proud of anything, being rich or being poor, well-educated or not, and unfortunately, good Christians or not. Jesus had a lot to say about pride, which includes self-righteousness. He told the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector at prayer. He used little children as examples. He hung out with people the religious leaders looked down on. If one of those persons comes to our church, let’s be different like Jesus.

I’ve read straight through the Bible more than a dozen times. As it’s been a while, I decided to read through it again in 2022. It’s not a huge task, a few chapters a day, unless you get behind. It’s important to read the Scriptures as a whole because being familiar with the Old Testament and its prophecies gives you a more complete understanding of the significance of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection recorded in the New Testament. Without being familiar with God’s promises to Abraham, Jacob, David and many others, we may not be aware they were fulfilled in Christ. And, how could we understand the need for Christ’s sacrifice without knowing the limitations of the sacrificial system of the Old Covenant. “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope” (Romans 15:4, NIV).

Thousands of babies have already been born in January 2022. We call them New Year’s babies. They are precious in God’s sight—new, one-of-a-kind human beings unlike any born before or after. It’s a cold, hard world they’ve come into but they don’t know that yet. My prayer is that they will all be sheltered and cared for and loved. And, when they learn this life can be tough and even sometimes dangerous, that they will know who they can turn to for help. They have a Father who loves them and will always be faithful to them, no matter what. May God bless all our New Year’s babies!

It’s a brand new year! I know, it’s just one day past 2021, but it still feels like a new start. I’m using my new planner, desk calendar (daughter Shara always gives me one with horses on it) and 2022 checkbook record. I chose a word for the year. Last year it was love, this year it’s joy. Not everything was lovely last year and not everything will be joyful this year, but it’s good to have a positive focus in life. As my New Year’s resolutions rarely change, I have only one this year, to ask God every day to guide me to do his will, not my own. Living up to that will be hard enough and only through God’s grace! May you have a blessed New Year!