REMEMBER DECEMBER!

By Dr. Rich Bimler, Lutheran Life Communities –

December is a great month to Remember – to remember to Reflect, Relax, Re-connect, Refresh, Receive, Renew, Recognize, Reach, Redefine, Reminisce, Rejoice and even to consider Random acts of kindness! Let’s Review these together:

1. Reflect – on all of the blessings that came our way this past year, and let us thank the Lord!
2. Relax – December can be hectic with gift giving, card sending, party going and company coming.
3. Make sure we pause, breathe deeply, and set limits for ourselves.
4. Re-connect – Take the time to remember old friends, call them, pray for them and thank them.
5. Refresh – Take advantage of special Holyday events, TV programs, concerts, worship and time to laugh and enjoy your friends and family.
6. Receive – Perhaps it is better to ”give than to receive,” but as we age, we also need to learn how to receive – to receive gifts and thanks and to receive help and assistance from others.
7. Renew – Take time to evaluate the body, mind, and spirit. Perhaps we need more rest, less food, more exercise or less hassles.
8. Recognize – December is a great time to recognize our own limitations. We cannot entertain as much, play with the grandkids as much or be night owls. Recognize that this is normal; that it is okay to slow down.  But do continue to remember the “good old days” with joy and acclamation!
9. Reach – People around us are lonely, lost, looking and lingering. Reach out to others with a word of hope, a smile of joy, a hand of support.
10. Redefine – December is a great month to redefine our priorities. What was important to us this last year? What needs to be more important to us next year? What can we do without and what do we need to continue to do in 2014?
11. Reminisce – Remember the quote, “Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be”?  How true! But do reminisce this month, focusing not on what went wrong, but rather on all of the blessings we have received!
12. Rejoice – Yes, December is a great time to Rejoice in new birth, in friends and family, in the message of Christmas and in the hope that is within us, even when there seems to be little hope!
13. Random Acts of Kindness – A recent news article reported that in Houston last month, 165 cars that were lined up at a fast-food drive-up restaurant “paid forward” the bill for the car directly in back of them! What a great story of doing Random Acts of kindness for others around us. What Random Act might you and I come up with this month?

Yes, December is the time to Remember! It is a time to be thankful that even when we do not even get close to doing all of the items listed above, we still have a new born Lord who forgives, blesses and reaches out with His acts of Random kindness to each of us! Remember and Rejoice!

Blessed December, Blessed Holydays from The Arlington of Naples

www.arlingtonnaples.org