By Gary DeVoe, Media Director

At the beginning of the New Year, our reflections are always a combination of what ifs, if onlys, and woulda, coulda, shouldas. If only I had started my diet last January, I would be . . ..

You know the drill. You’ve “been there, done that, and got the t-shirt to prove it.” I have been thinking about this New Year, the past, the family, the future, and so on.

While home in New York during Thanksgiving, I got a special treat from my little brother Joe. He handed me my grandmother’s and grandfather’s passports, travel visas, and other official documents. They left Switzerland and emigrated to the U.S. in August 1918. What a joy I have had as I have perused their antique documents and remembered their influence in my life.

I particularly remembered one afternoon in 1986. My grandmother was in a hospital in Auburn, New York, and I had asked her, “Grandma, do you want to know Jesus?” As the tears ran down her cheeks, she replied, “I have wanted to know Jesus all my life.” I had such joy as I led her to the Lord.

My grandmother is waiting now in heaven to hug me when I finally get there. Together, we’ll rejoice in Him forever.

New Years aren’t really new. They are an accumulation of lifetimes: exploits, achievements, successes, disappointments, failures, and heartbreaks. There are joyous moments and grand memories.

Make this year about what really counts: family, friends, and Jesus. Let’s work together to bring them all—all that will—into God’s kingdom.

How many more want to hear the precious good news that God loves them and sent His only Son to die for them? There are many, like my grandmother, young and old, who are waiting to hear, to know, and to be adopted into the family.

It’s a New Year. New opportunities await us. Let’s run to the battle. We can face whatever comes our way because we have already won.

Tags: good news | Jesus | love | new year