Happy New Year! It is 2015, WOW! I say it every year, time just seems to be passing more quickly as I get older. I sit and look at our little happy family and I am frantically looking for a pause button! Our oldest is about to graduate from college, our next oldest will be heading to college (in another state….over 4 hours from home….deep breath!!!), The next oldest will be a senior and soon she will graduate and leave the nest as well. I feel as though I am going to blink and they will all be gone, on their own, making their own way.

I used to joke that I couldn’t wait until all six were out of the house and I could have a little peace and quiet and a clean house for more than five minutes 😉 But let’s face it….given the choice I would build a huge compound and have all of them and their families living right next door. They are after all, my favorite people in the world!

I am not much of a resolution maker, but as we sat in Mass on New Year’s Day, the priest was talking to us about being disciples of Christ and how it is our privilege to spend the next year sharing the Gospel with others. I thought to myself, I resolve to spend 2015 being a better mom, praying to Mary for guidance, patience and wisdom. I resolve to spend 2015 making my faith a priority and living my life on purpose, examining my choices and asking if they give Glory to God or glory to greed.

I enjoy attending Mass with my family every week, but there are a few Holy Days and Masses that just hold a special place in my heart. January 1st is one that I look forward to, I love starting the year off with my loved ones beside me, honoring Mary and celebrating our faith together. I feel that starting the year off like this sets us on a path of purpose. I thank God every day for the blessings in my life and I ask that I can be a blessing to others. As we sat in Mass on Thursday, I felt so full of hope.

Hope for our coming year, hope for new & exciting opportunities, hope for our family and our desire to build our faith and to share it with others, hope that we will play some part in leading others to a relationship with Christ. I feel full of hope for the future our children will have, I feel blessed knowing that their faith is so important to them, it is a priority and they choose every day to live their lives on purpose looking to Christ for guidance.

After Mass, we returned to our hotel and packed up the Suburban. We spent the rest of the day at the Henry Doorly Zoo, one of our favorite places to be together. I thought to myself, I can’t think of any place I would rather be right now than spending time with my family. We had three wonderful days together. It was the best way to end 2014, and the perfect beginning to 2015.

Another Mass that holds special meaning for me is the celebration of the Epiphany. The Epiphany is on January 6th, it is the 12th day of Christmas and it is the day the Magi arrived in Bethlehem to meet Jesus, our Savior. This year it is celebrated on Sunday, January 4th. My heart swells with hope and wonder as we listen to the familiar readings and we sing one of my favorite songs, “We Three Kings”. I can only imagine how the people living in Christ’s time must have felt, knowing they were in the presence of the Son of God. To see him and touch him and hear his voice, it overwhelms me. I am grateful to know Christ and to welcome him into my life and I look forward to the day when I too can see him and touch him, knowing he is here with us now. Until that day, I will live my life to share his news with others in hopes that they too will look to him for guidance like a Star of Wonder. 

 

I pray today that each of us will pause for a moment and thank God for the blessings in our lives. I pray that each of us will make our faith a priority in our lives and that we will all spend more time together participating in positive activities that foster gratitude and faith in our children. I pray that as we go through our days that we will choose to live to glorify God, that we will DO more for others, and that we will love our God above all other things.

May you and your family be blessed this year and may each of us grow our faith in 2015.

Blessings!