New Year Resolutions

Are you ready to embrace this new year? Admittedly, these past two years have not given us much to cheer about, but there is something about hanging a new calendar on the wall and seeing those squares ready to be filled with activities and events that give us hope of something better to come.

One of my favorite things to do is to walk along a beach after a wave has washed away all the imperfections in the sand. That is how the beginning of a new year seems to me.

Now, about those resolutions: Are you like the fellow whose annual list of resolutions is simply a carbon copy of the previous year’s? Every year his list includes the same bad habits and short comings, and he is able to make it until about Jan. 4 with keeping those resolutions. Or the woman who decides she will spend the entire year regretting the past. She will sigh over lost loves, cry over spilled milk, and fail to improve.

Maybe what we should all write down for our Number One Resolution this year is to make a definite commitment to let Jesus control our lives. By allowing God to work in our lives we can sense renewal day to day. Things will change. Life will not be the same. As the apostle Paul says, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old is gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). When we take the step of faith to allow Christ to control our lives, the resolutions we make are easier to keep. We can’t always do it on our own but we do not have to because we have the Holy Spirit helping us to keep our relationship with Christ warm and vibrant every day. We can take the time each day to read God’s Word and to talk to Him. We can extend forgiveness to others just as God forgives our failures. We can rely completely on God’s strength in times of temptation and weakness. We can live for others instead of for ourselves.

As I get older, I think so much of life is about the relationships we have had, the ones that we have now, and the ones that are to come. There is a richness in life about being with and caring for other people. I truly feel that I have been very blessed by the people God has put into my life. I always try to resolve to be a better friend, a better mom, a better neighbor.

These are the kind of new year resolutions we will want to keep. When we get to the point where we can say with the apostle Paul, “For me, to live is Christ” we will discover that life has a whole new dimension. The chains of our habits are strong, but by faith they are broken and replaced. May the New Year be bright, happy, and healthy. May you feel richly blessed and cherish each new day knowing you are a beloved child of God. Walk closely with God through 2022. Let God be the Lord of your life.

Happy New Year and a big hello. I want to introduce myself. My name is Linda Weko, and I live in Alexandria. I have lived here in this area for 45 years and though I came from the Philadelphia area, I certainly love central PA and cannot ever picture living anywhere else.

I was married for 44 years to my college sweetheart who died in 2013. We have two sons who married wonderful women and gave us three grandchildren and one great-grandson. I taught learning support and first grade at Juniata Valley for 28 years. Being a wife, a mother, and a teacher were three jobs I cherished.

I did a lot of volunteering over the years with Meals on Wheels, library board, hospice, and the food bank in Williamsburg. In 2015 I finished two years of classes and was authorized as a lay worship leader. I am a member of Zion Lutheran Church in Williamsburg where I help make quilts for Lutheran Relief and serve on council and the social ministry team.

But I want to tell you also how when I was in eleventh and twelfth grade I was very interested in journalism and served as the editor of our school newspaper. I loved figuring out the layout for those newspapers and going to club meetings and sporting events so that we had articles to fill the paper with. I didn’t fulfill that journalism dream but I kept writing. I journaled every day and when I got ideas, I would start writing novels or devotionals. I always have loved writing. When the opportunity to write this column was made known to me, I applied. I was overjoyed when I was offered the job and really have felt that God never forgot that teen-aged dream I had of doing something with journalism. I feel very blessed and honored to begin this writing journey and I look forward to walking it with you.