Beginning a new year is like having a stack of 365 presents before us, to be opened one at a time. Every day is a gift. We get to choose whether to appreciate it, or throw it away.

Perhaps mounting years have made me more acutely aware of how precious time is in each of our lives. If we knew how many days we have left before us, we might spend each one more wisely.

I found a Rick Warren quote about time while searching the internet, which I love. ““Time is your most precious gift because you only have a set amount of it. You can make more money, but you can’t make more time. When you give someone your time, you are giving them a portion of your life that you’ll never get back. Your time is your life. That is why the greatest gift you can give someone is your time.”

Psalm 31:15 declares that my time is in God’s hands. I can’t think of a better place for it to be. I still have dreams of things to accomplish in my life. I still have hopes for the future. Whatever 2018 holds, I expect there to be many blessings from God and many joyful occasions. Realistically, I know there will be some hard times along the way, as there are with each passing year, but I know God will help me walk through them victoriously.

My son is notorious for sitting down with a calendar at the start of each new year and filling it up with his work schedule and activities to do on his free week-ends. He gets a lot accomplished that way, but I am not that rigid.

I do plan ahead, but I’m also flexible. I love to prepare for big adventures, but also find that some of the spontaneous things in life bring as much joy as those that have been on the calendar for months. Completing several projects on the horizon is something to which I am looking forward.

The third book in the Warrior Women series, Warrior Women, Healing the Brokenhearted, is now open for submissions. Each book in the series is a collection of true Christian faith based stories from real women who have experienced God working in their lives in a variety of ways. Mother: Warrior, Daughters Arise, and Warrior Women, the Power of Prayer are both available on Amazon.com and Kindle. They are also available at Jewel Craft in the Harlan Village Center Mall. When Warrior Women, Healing the Brokenhearted is complete, it will be available in the same places. Submissions are open to women of the Christian faith, near and far, who have a compelling story to share.

I have several other books in the making, certainly enough to keep me busy in 2018 if I didn’t do anything else with my time.

It is too easy in human nature to get bogged down with all the worries and concerns of life, and be swallowed up in negativity. I don’t want to spend my days in that frame of mind. I want to believe in the good in people, and in the good in my own life. I want to rejoice with others in their blessings. If answers I am seeking don’t come today, then I am one day closer to the day they will come.

Sometimes, just looking at an ordinary thing differently helps us appreciate it differently. Here is the challenge for all of us. What would happen if we looked at each and every day as God’s gift to us and made the most of it? What if we chose each day to commit that day unto God and expected good things to come forth?

This is the year I am going to find out.

Reach Judith Victoria Hensley at judith99@bellsouth.net or on Facebook. Check out her blog: One Step Beyond the Door.