Resolve to make a difference in 2017

Faith in a better future will guide us to new heights

I had the most wonderful holiday season that I have ever had. Thanks to my guardian angels in this community, you know who you are, and the priceless quality time spent with my two girls, Kaylee and Caroline, my dog, Maggie, my two grand dogs, Brody and Dexter, and my three new grand kittens, Toe-by, Bob and Bert – my holidays were the brightest, by far, ever. Taking the time and spending that time with family and friends is what life is all about.
This past week my girls returned back to their lives in Atlanta and Valdosta. It was a very sad time for me and I painfully walked around the house putting pieces of their lives safely out of sight because it was too painful at the moment to keep looking at them. I wasn’t a very happy person. My third daughter, Maggie, my chihuahua, was confused as much as I was sad and kept running around looking for someone other than me.
Just a few days earlier, and for the past two weeks, our home had been a buzz of activity, but now it was not. It was quiet. We, Maggie and I,  were alone again in our house, but in our hearts we were not alone at all.
I was very, very sad, but at the same time, I felt extremely blessed for all I have and for all I have been given. My girls are wonderful young adults with very bright futures. Yes, they are gone for a while, but they are coming back. That realization changed my mood.   My faith in God and my faith in the fact that tomorrow will always be a brighter day for me and my girls got me excited and all of the darkness seemed to instantly fade away.
Faith is a powerful thing. We live in a three-dimensional world — we move up/down, forward/backward, and side to side.  When we add time, our total existence is in four dimensions.  That’s it.  We can’t be anywhere else! It is in these four dimensions that we work and play.  It is in these dimensions that we deal with life and work with the challenges.  We act in response to life’s needs and demands.  We make decisions and we make plans.  We enjoy it and sometimes we are unhappy about it.
Is there more?  YES!  For those of us who believe in a force outside of ourselves, we have faith.  Faith is about trust or confidence in someone or something.  Faith is not only believing that someone can, but that they will.  Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Faith is expecting the sun to rise again tomorrow because it happened yesterday.  Faith is thus the fifth dimension in which all of us can live.
It is with faith that we can overcome fear.  Faith allows us to withstand times of challenge and difficulty.   Faith in a greater future guides us to new heights.  Have you been in the presence of someone with a strong faith?  Those individuals tend to be calmer under pressure, less agitated when confronted, and more composed when challenged by life.  Those entrepreneurs with a strong faith about themselves tend to take greater risks in innovative ideas.  Living can be difficult; yet a person of faith tends to weather the difficulties better — believing tomorrow will be a better day.
It’s a new year and I will focus on living fully in all five dimensions – especially by faith.  That is my New Year’s resolution.  
By the way, I have faith that 2017 is going to be an unbelievably rewarding and awesome year. On Thursday, January 5th, a meeting is scheduled to begin the plans for the February Mardi Gras celebration. The New Year’s Eve event was cancelled because of the lack of volunteers, but that problem can be easily remedied. It just requires a little faith going forward and a whole lot of volunteers having it.
 If you love this community – and wish to make its quality of life even better – you need to be at this event. Resolve to get involved in 2017. Attend the Mardi Gras Coffee and Commerce planning event at 5:30 p.m., Thursday, January 5th at Magnolia Maven on Second Street in downtown Donalsonville.
My two buzz words for this year and the plans we have for it are dazzling and magnanimous. If we come together and work together we can make each and every event that and a whole lot more, so get on the progress train or get out of its way.
Have faith. Dream it; believe it  – and then walk the walk to make it happen.

Comments and impressions are welcomed and
requested at david@donalsonvillenews.com