Hello kind readers! I hope your New Year celebration was wonderful and that you are looking forward to 2023 with great anticipation.

 I've taken a long break from blogging.  Fighting depression was a real battle last year.  It tends to sap energy.  Even if you've done nothing you can still fill exhausted.  So I found it real hard to sit down before the keyboard and write anything.

 We spent last week with my two daughters and their families in Michigan. Yesterday I had a long time of prayer with the Lord.  I resolved to be more focused on self-care.  I have a number of steps I'll be following with the hope that the black dog that's been following me will seem as about as threatening as a puppy. I trust that the Lord will give me the faith and strength to follow through.

 We were greatly blessed with our travel last week.  You know about the big winter storm that hit most of the US just before Christmas.  My dear sweet wife and I flew out on Christmas day.  By then the storm had passed through the Midwest and Southwest Airlines got us safely to Midway Airport in Chicago.

 If you were following the papers, the following day Southwest Airlines suffered a complete meltdown.  Thousands of flights cancelled.  Hundreds of flyers stranded. What a mess.  Watching this unfold left Sherri and I wondering how we would get home.  But by Friday Southwest got its house in order, so to speak.  Our plane left on time yesterday and we arrived back in Phoenix just as scheduled..

 Sherri and I realize just how blessed we were throughout this whole mess.  We didn't have to sleep in the airport like so many other travelers.  We enjoyed a white Christmas with our family while spending the week in our new summer home.  And then we made it home without a hitch. 

 For the next four months my schedule is fairly packed.  I'm preaching twice a month at Christ the Redeemer.  Once a month Ron, Connie and I will provide music at the 9:30 service at Life in Christ. I'll start my duties as Zone Counselor with our LWML branch. I have a medical procedure later this month - nothing serious (I hope).  Sherri and I have pledged to be more intentional with exercise and to hold each other accountable.  We have a session with a exercise leader who is going to put a plan together for us.

 What's in store for us in 2023? Do any of us know for sure? In Matthew, chapter one, an angel tells Joseph about the child his intended wife, Mary, carrying.  This child is the fulfillment of a prophecy - He is Immanuel, "God with us."  And that is our hope for the New Year.  No matter what we face, whether is be a blessing or a challenge, our God goes with us into 2023.  Trust Him to be with you throughout the coming year.

 God's blessings to you and your family!