“Two Thousand Six!” No matter how many times I say it, it sounds a little strange. It seems that every year, one of the first things we have to get used to is writing the correct numbers when we place the date on things - which always takes me a little while to get used to. But when speaking of strange events, New Year’s in my house was always filled with many of them when I was growing up.

You see, in my house we would invite my grandparents and other relatives to celebrate on New Year’s Eve; and the evening would be filled with all kinds of things that were out of the ordinary. We would have shrimp, little hot dogs in BBQ sauce, and it was the one time of the year when the children could make kiddie cocktails (7-Up with a lot of grenadine). And even though these were strange events that were definitely out of the ordinary, I can gaurantee that I never complained.

As the evening grew later, I can remember that we would also play games; and of course, they were some of the craziest games we could think of. But what was even more out of the ordinary was the fact that grandpa would take part in these games. And when grandpa played, we could never stop laughing.

New Year’s always seemed to me to be a time when the people in my family did things that they never did at any other time of the year. The food was different, everyone was happy J, we all went out on the front lawn at midnight to dance and make lots of noise, and then the men would take part in eating pickled herring (something I have never taken part in to this day). But this was also where the worst and the best took place at the same time.

Midnight was the one time of the year when we all knew we had to hug and give kisses to everyone. Believe me when I tell you that I tried to run, hide, and do anything else to avoid this……but now I miss it.

I miss seeing and hearing grandpa play charades. I miss hanging out with my cousins who had mouths as red as mine from all the grenadine in those kiddle cocktails. I miss begging my mom not to hug me too tight or give me a kiss. I miss dancing on our front lawn and shouting at the top of my lungs. I miss the way things used to be.

With the New Year certainly comes excitement. But we know that with every New Year there are also many things which we cannot know. For some this is exciting, while for others this is a bit frightening. And this is most likely one of the reasons why it is much easier to look back on the past than it is to look to the future. The past is often a much safer place. After all, there is nothing to fear in the past. We already know how things have panned out and it even becomes easier to try to live by holding onto what once was.

But the fact remains that since the very beginning, time continues to move in only one direction. Time only moves forward. New years come and new years go. One thing that we can count on in our own lives and the life of our congregation is that it will not stand still or move backward. Time doesn’t do this.

While there is nothing wrong with looking back, challenges are created if the past becomes our vision and goal for the future. It becomes very difficult to see the direction we are headed if we’re not looking forward. In fact, if we drove our cars in this manner, the odds would be pretty good that we would never reach our destination.

There’s no doubt that looking back on this past year and the past years before it is at times fun and often very important. We all have much to celebrate and learn from the past. The past teaches us who our true Father is, and what our Lord Jesus did for us in His sinless life, atoning death, and victorious resurrection. But as we now begin to look forward with all of the saints that have gone before us, let us never lose focus of our goal. “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” – Hebrews 12:2

Let us seek out His will as we look forward to the many possibilities and opportunities placed before us in 2006.

God’s blessings in this New Year!

Pastor Kurt