A New Year Dawns!

Happy New Year 2011 to my family, friends, and myself! God has graciously added another glorious year to our lives, and it is with gratitude and prayer that I embrace this wondrous start, not only to the new year, but also to another decade. I look back in wonder at all the past years of my life, and look forward to yet another year of renewed hope and joy. Life has had its ups and downs, to use a cliche, but somehow we managed to find our way through and weather it all, both good and bad. It is with the same optimism and faith that we welcome each new year.

Life as a child was without care and every New Year's Day was anticipated with a pure, unadulterated joy that only children are capable of. Being Seventh Day Adventists, there was no church service on Christmas Day, but only on New Year's Day. My family attended church at 5 AM regularly each year, and we would don new clothes and make the trip to church in the cold hours of the morning, around 4 AM, when the rest of the town was still slumbering, and only a few tea stalls were just opening for business. It was such a delight looking at all the decorations in the church, the festoons and the tinsel and the lights that transformed the otherwise staid structure at other times of the year. After church, my Dad always called on a cousin of his, and then would go to the market for fresh meat and fish. My Mom and the rest of us would get home and distribute cakes and sweets to the neighbours, and the whole day was filled with the aroma of delicious food, and marked with the music and joy and laughter of friends who visited us.

As an adult, my New Year rituals have changed. Since we go to church on Christmas Eve, we ring in the New Year at home these days. Ever since we moved to America, we've been used to counting down the minutes on the clock along with Dick Clark's Rockin' Eve, as we watch the crystal ball go down in Times Square. We then follow the local celebrations as well, and then call all our friends to greet them. A celebratory glass of wine ends the night, as we go to bed with the warmth and glow of the New Year still within us. January 1st is usually spent quietly at home, taking calls, cooking good food, and gearing up for the work days to follow. This year is no exception, and as I end this post, let me wish all of you once again A Very Joyous, Prosperous, and Blessed New Year 2011!!!!