Happy New Year! It is -16 degrees outside as I sit here typing. Even more startling, the wind chill is -34. Good time to stay inside. Yesterday was a good day even with difficult weather and low attendance. As for my musings …

-It was a couple of degrees below zero when church started yesterday, and the wind chill had it feeling like -14 when people were arriving. What a way to finish a year and start a new one.

-Good news, our furnaces were operating well yesterday. More good news, the furnace at my house is working well today.

-When the attendance is significantly less than normal it seems to take a few minutes for everyone to get engaged in worship. The good news, once people got engaged it was a good time of worship.

-I have already been contacted about doing 2 funerals this week.

-We did have a visitor in our worship service yesterday. I did share with him that things looked a lot different than a normal Sunday and I hope he was positively impacted by the spirit in the service.

-On Saturday my wife and I drove 265 miles to get back home from our family Christmas gathering. The first hour of the trip was brutal with snow, wind, slick roads and traffic moving about 20 to 30 miles an hour below normal speeds. When we drove out of the snow we were battling salt and dirt constantly building up on the windshield. Our windshield washer fluid would not flow. We had to stop 3 times so I could clean the windshield with snow. We did make it home safely, but that trip was not my favorite one.

-I was grateful for a wonderful man in the church who cleared our driveway and sidewalk while we were gone. It was great to drive in and not have to get out and start shoveling.

-While the family here in the states was together, we were able to Skype for a few minutes with my son and family in Africa. It was great to see their faces and hear their voices.

-My thoughts and prayers have been with so many families in my church, and friends across the country, who have turned the calendar to a new year for the first time without a family member who passed this year.

-I have been spending some time the past couple of days thinking back on all that took place in 2017. I may post something about those memories later this week.

-As this new year begins our thoughts turn toward things we would like to accomplish this year. Make sure that part of that thinking involves time with God, time in the Word and time serving others. If you invest yourself in those three areas, you will have great memories when you reach the end of 2018.

-“To change requires a new beginning. But a new beginning is wasted unless you begin to act in a new way. What will you do with this new year?” This quote popped up from something I posted 5 or 6 years ago. Asking myself what I will do differently this year so that I can fulfill some goals I have in mind. What behaviors will you change this year?

-I won my Fantasy Football league championship!

-I am trying to figure out if I can make it through this day without stepping outside.

-My mind is not moving very quickly this morning. Maybe it is the cold, even though it is not cold in the house I know that just beyond these walls it is brutally cold outside. Or maybe, I am just tired. I think it is time for me to quit writing this post and start practicing typing and writing 2018.

Here’s hoping you stay warm today and that memories of God’s faithfulness will warm your heart as well.

Dennis