The new year, 2019, is upon us.
What did you do on New Year's Eve? Did you host a party or small get together, or attend a party that had games, singing, dancing? Did you take a New Year's Eve cruise out in Destin Harbor or run down to Walt Disney World to celebrate? Or did you stay home and watch movies as a family?
When we lived in other states we would attend a New Year's Eve reflection service, which was a church service followed by dinner and games.
The service was a time to reflect on the previous year, to allow sorrows and pain to be put into the past, to remember the joyous moments we had throughout the year and look forward to the gifts the Lord has planned for the new one.
Of course, we will always miss our loved ones and think of the joy they brought into our lives, but for those of us who are Christians, we have the hope of heaven and reuniting one day with our beloved family and friends.
I choose to make better choices this year. This includes a choice to eat more vegetables, which I enjoy; to exercise more; to train Abigail, our collie, to spend more time in the yard.
I also would like to spend more time in prayer and in the Scriptures, and to share Christ with those who need His loving salvation. Sending cards to those who can't get around much is also on my heart. We all have different gifts we can use to be kind to others.
What would you like to do better in 2019? Do you have certain areas in your life you want to improve?
Let's also make the time to look for those everyday miracles we each have. Do you look for the blessings that God gives and thank him?
I find comfort in the fact that the Lord gives us a fresh start each year. We can make better choices than we made last year. We have the opportunity to deliberately make different decisions and to do better in our lives.
Welcome 2019! We can't wait for all the possibilities you have in store to be unfolded.
Also, here's a safety tip to consider: Change your smoke detector batteries throughout your house.
Janice Lynn Crose, a former accountant, lives in Crestview with her husband, Jim; her two rescue collies, Shane and Jasmine; and two cats, Kathryn and Prince Valiant.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: I plan to make better choices in this new year