A NEW YEAR!

Well, New Year's Eve came and went - and I daresay there are a few people who are glad they don't have to go to work this morning.  Mr. HCB and I had a quiet evening in - although we did hear the revellers down on the beach just before midnight, so went out on to the balcony to watch a few fireworks, but it was very windy, so we didn't stay out there for long.

So here we are, on the 1st January, at the start of another New Year - with all its hopes and dreams - and I haven't made one resolution - well except the usual ones that most of us make - not to eat too much chocolate, to lose some weight, to be kinder and all those sorts of resolutions that will last about a week - although I will try to be kinder for longer than that!

When I looked out at the sea this morning and saw how rough it was, it reminded me that sometimes our lives can be like that - calm one day, as it was yesterday, with sunlight on the sea, and everything going well, but then the next day, it can be very rough and stormy - and we never know quite what to expect.  For me, that is where putting MY hand into the hand of God is the best thing I can do - believing that He is there in the rough sea and storm with me and holding me above the waves.  I am sure there will be times when I "go under" but I am confident that whatever situation I find myself in during 2015, God will be there with me - in fact, I believe that sometimes He allows me to go through hard times, so that I will rely on His strength and grace.  

I recall the words of a Christian writer, Adrian Plass, who said "Nothing is ever wasted" so even if you are going through difficult times at the moment, perhaps at sometime during this coming year you will be able to help someone who is going through a similar situation.  

Whatever happens during this year, be blessed and thank you all for being such great Blip friends.

On Christmas Day, 1939, in his speech to the nation, King George VI used part of a poem written by Minnie Haskins, who was born at Warmley, near Bristol (only 30 miles from where we live):

I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year,
"Give me a light
that I may tread safely
into the unknown."
And he replied,
"Go into the darkness
and put your hand into the Hand of God.
That shall be to you better than light
and safer than a known way!"
So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God,
trod gladly into the night.
And He led me towards the hills
and the breaking of the day in the lone East.
Minnie Haskins 1875-1957