Bye 2011, welcome 2012

As we approach 2012 it's time for us to reflect upon this past year of 2011, and ask ourselves what we accomplished and what experiences we gained. Did we accomplish everything we set out to do? Did we learn a lesson from someone (if so, who?) and did we get rid of a "bad" habit, as we promised ourselves we would do? Did we pass on knowledge to someone or cared for someone in need? Did we lend an ear to someone who needed to be listened to ? and at the same time did we seek someone to sit and listen to us, and maybe ask for an insight, wisdom or advice for a solution to a problem we may have faced? The list is endless and private for each one of us, but nevertheless as important as anybody's.


One thing that is evident in our society today is thay we have little time to stop for a moment and ponder about such things (who cares? and why do we need to?). One only needs to watch TV, listen to the radio or read the latest news on-line to see how much importance we place on 'material things'. We stand in lines for not only hours , but days, to find and purchace the most coveted new gadget. We trample over people to get there 'first', and we even get violent if someone gets in our way. What has happened?


As I was doing some Christmas shopping last week, I shared a little story with the cashier, how I accidentally had dropped our TV remote in water and my husband had to go search for one that would work. So, then she shared an incident that happened to her son: as he was giving his dog a bath he leaned over and his NEW and latest I-phone fell out of his pocket and into the bath water. He was devastated. Well, I would be too--I only damaged the TV remote and was bent out of shape, but an I-phone? It would make anyone sick, knowing how much those things cost. We are so into our 'material stuff' (things we cannot live without). We are more busy texting, listening to music, surfing the internet, playing video games, and wrapped up with our latest gadgets, that we fail to spend time with people, or have any quiet time for ourselves. We are always busy, and constantly bombarded with information and 'noise', no matter where we go. We are on overload and we cannot hear ourselves think......


Well, I don't know how we got to this point, but I do know that we can make a change if we want to. We can stop being 'busy' with trivial things and start by scheduling quiet times for ourselves. Our bodies were not really created for all this. We were created to serve God and for helping and serving others. We were created for a purpose, but how can we discover our purpose if "we don't have time?" We stess out knowing that we barely can get the daily necessary things done, let alone take on another "project", "our purpose", right? I speak from personal experience. I am sure some of you out there feel the same way. (Sometimes I feel as though I exist to complete my "to do list", to finish the tasks that I take on, because I alone can get them done!!!yeah right!
Then, I find myself lacking the time to really do what I would really enjoy doing).


So, maybe we can work on making some changes this coming year-not a New Year's Resolution, per se, but just a promise to ourselves that we will cut out ALL unnecessary "busy work", so that we may discover where our time should really be spent. Maybe by doing that, we CAN discover our spiritual gifts and live out God's purpose for us instead of living our self-absorbed existence.


Each of us has different gifts. If it is serving, we should serve, if it is teaching, we should teach, if it is encouraging, we should encourage, if it is contributing to the needs of others, we should give generously, if it is leadership, we should govern diligently, if it is showing hospitality, we should do it cheerfully, or whatever other "gifts" we have yet to discover, we should focus on doing them well. (See Romans 12:6-8)


This year, let's focus on finding our God given purpose and waste less time on what other people or other things impose on our time. I believe that there is a BIG gap between what society wants us to spend our time on and what God wants us to spend our time on. In 2012 I intend to find out what that is for me. Won't you join me and do the same?

Time spent cannot be retrieved. As they say, life is not a dress rehearsal, we need to do it right the first time and stop wasting our time.

May you all have A Happy, Healthy and Productive New Year, and may we all make our time count, according to God's will and NOT our will!

The Legend Of Santa Claus

He has many names in many countries. In the western part of the world, he is known as Santa Claus, which is derived from the Dutch Sinterklaas. But the real Santa Claus was born in 270AD, in a place called Asia Minor, which is now the country of Turkey, by the way, my birth place. His name was Nicholas of Myra. His parents died when he was a teenager, leaving him a lot of money, making him a very rich young man. After Nicholas went to live with his uncle the priest, he heard of a man who had no money to feed and care for his three daughters. Each night, for three nights in a row, Nicholas quietly entered the family's home leaving a bag of gold in each of the daughter's stockings hanging by the fireplace to dry. The last night the father awoke to find Nicholas leaving the gold and said, "Nicholas it is you! Thank you for helping our family!" Nicholas replied saying, "Please don't thank me. Thank God that your prayers have been answered, and do not tell anyone about me."

Nicholas continued to help others in secret, and as the years passed, he was chosen to become a Bishop. He always found a way to protect and help those in need, showing them how to love God and care for each other. After Nicholas died on December 6, 346 AD, he became the Patron Saint of children, sailors, merchants, archers and students. And as many spoke of St. Nicholas's good deeds, Sailors traveled the world, spreading the wonderful stories of St. Nicholas and how he protected and cared for children and those in need.

All countries all over the world celebrate the Birth Of Christ, they also celebrate the tradition of gift giving to those less fortunate and to those they love. A tradition created so many years ago by St. Nicholas. In Istanbul, Turkey, where I grew up, I remember as a little girl, we would celebrate Christmas but we did not get any gifts then. On New Years Eve we would celebrate the coming of the New Year by eating, playing games, cards etc..and at Midnight we would open all our gifts, from "Santa Claus".

As I mentioned earlier, he has different names in different countries, but the tradition has been celebrated for all those centuries. There are many people all around the world and in our communities who can use our love, caring and giving. May we all remember to be as loving as Jesus Christ and as caring and giving as St. Nicholas to those who are less fortunate, in this blessed Holiday Season.

Merry Christmas and may you all have a Happy New Year.