by Pastor B.J. Knefley

Can you believe it’s going to be 2023? I suppose for some it’s no big deal but for those that were born in the 40’s and 50’s, we’re getting old. (That’s 1940 and 1950 for those that don’t know.)

I don’t know about you but I’m looking forward to the New Year. As some might say, the good Lord willing and the sun still shines, I’ve got plans. Not grandiose plans but plans that can be managed. I’m putting together a bucket list of sorts, well actually just one or two for the moment. One of these is to go out west again along the southern route. That will take in a run to Georgia and then across to New Mexico and then north to Utah. From there probably up to Wyoming before heading back home. How long of a trip? As long as I can stand it. The other? Yeah, well I’m still working on that.

There are other things I’m working on for the New Year as well. Actually, they are not new, but I do want to be more focused. For example, I want to work on my relationship with God. What does that mean? Well for starters I want to spend more time in prayer and alone time with just Him. For starters I’m setting aside the seventh of every month to be alone time with God. Why? Well one of the things that I see Jesus doing is drawing away in prayer. I think that as a follower of Christ to live the life he lived one must do what he did as well. That means spending time in an up relationship with the Father.

That’s the spiritual side. I’m also working on the emotional and physical stuff as well, again nothing to big or grandiose, just enough to handle each day. See that’s why we often fail in our plans for change, we make them too big. My plan is about living my life in this New Year with Christ at the center. My camping and biking will be quiet solitude, a time of reflection and medication. Don’t have a plan? Remember, no plan is still a plan, just like no decision is still a decision. Where are you going to be in 2023?

Think about it.