IN THIS NEW YEAR . . .

I'm so blessed to be seeing the new year in with my sister and our dad. God is so good and so faithful! 

Champagne and shrimp scampi . . . traditional family favorites and upholding the custom from dad's childhood and beyond that it brings a blessing on the house when the first one to enter the house in the new year is a man -- so we all went out after toasts and a short round of "Auld Lang Syne," and then Dad was the first to go back into the house.

Brought back memories of seeing the new year in at Dad's family home where he was born 88 1/2 years ago . . . built by his father I the south side of Chicago off Stoney Island, not far from where the Skyway to Gary, IN,  begins . . . built when we were kids in the late 60s. And I can still remember the thrill of traveling on it high above the city for the first time just because Dad wanted to give us that thrill . . . And I remember it well, and especially the new vista being at that height afforded and the new perspective gained . . . just like seeing the city and surrounding area from new heights on the first trip to the top of the Prudetial Building, the tallest edifice in Chicago in the early 60; and later the marvel of looking out and down from the top floor of the next tallest skyscraper built in the city--the John Hancock Building; and still later going up in a "jet-propelled" elevator to the top of the building formerly known as The Sears Tower around the time I headed out to college downstate. 

These experiences were all treats because our parents loved architecture and art; music, the theater . . . and delighted in sharing what they loved with us . . .Sunday afternoon excursions . . . not just to visit our grandparents or to pay our respects at the graves of our grandfather and other family members, but even when we also went to those places, side trips along the way to see beautiful and interesting structures . . . the Marina Towers downtown on one curve of the Chicago River, the Baha'i Temple along the shore of Lake Michigan in Winnetka, seen while diving north up Lakeshore Drive and beyond; or when we drove northwest from the city to view houses and Unity Temple designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and splendidly on display in Oak Park.

Memories triggered by familiar rituals and holiday celebrations seem to connect to one another lik a string of pearls as I have mentioned before in the past. Besides New Years Eves in the house where Dad grew up, there were also memorable Christmases and New Years Eve celebrations when aunts, uncles, cousins and friends came to be with us in Tower Lakes. 

Images that stand out in my mind include moon glow on the shimmering snow covered lake when we took the jubilation outside with horns and noise-makers, shouts and whoops . . . again making sure a man or a boy was the first one back into the house for good luck in the new year. And the grownups playing Bridge . . . far into the night after we had all been sent to bed, falling asleep while hearing the muted sounds of their laughter and table talk downstairs.

Then we woke up to the new day, the first of the new year, and maybe it was a bright cold day with the sunlight casting sparkles on the snow that blanketed lawns and frozen surface of the lake; shining on huge, broad, tall evergreen trees laden with big clumps of snow perched on every outer branch.

But lately most of my New Years Eves have not been spent where there is snow and ice as they were in my childhood . . . except that last year I was in Colorado with my son and his family, and I have twice been in Russia to welcome in a new year. The first time was when when I was in Obninsk in the Kaluga region a few hundred miles southwest of Moscow when 1994 arrived, and the last time was when I spent most of the winter of 2010-2011 with a dear friend I grew up with who at the time was serving as the Cultural Affairs Attaché in the U.S. Consulate in Vladivostok  

I have written things about both of those sojourns for the "string of pearls" offerings in the past, so maybe it's not necessary to elaborate much now. Maybe I will later.

I suppose I should come up with some New Years Resolutions, but I can't think of any right now. Can you? If you have any you need help and encouragement to keep them, please let me know. A friend who knows how often I embark on various renditions of the "Kathy Harris Self-Improvement Program" recently gently took me to task for not giving it all over to the Holy Spirit instead of continuing to try to get it right on my own . . . again. 

Live and learn . . . !

I've come to realize that unless I am yielded to the Holy Spirit, the changes I try to make don't last. And what do I really know needs to be changed and what doesn't? The Lord has the best perspective on all of that. We are not His puppets, and I don't mean to suggest that unless we allow Him to give us a total makeover that we can't have a life the way we want it to be.

But it takes time and the way that the Lord loves us is so wonderful.  Everything that He has for us is tailored to each one of us individually, because who each of us is as a unique person is very special and amazing -- created by God to be loved and blessed; created for His own sake so that we could live in loving relationship with Him while we are on Earth and for all eternity. 

So my prayer for you in this new year, Beloved, as always, is that you will recognize who you are as a beautiful, wonderful individual created by the Fullness of Love not only to live in relationship with Love, but also that you will abide in Love, Grace, Peace and Joy now and always.