Happy New Year!
Well, How did you celebrate the New Year? Like many people across America we sat up late until just past midnight, to officially usher in the new year. The family gathered in the living room where we shared together. I said, "If there is anything else you wanted to do this year, before it ends, you had better do it quick." Promptly my son, Graham, jumped up and went to kiss his mother. Immediately our youngest, Jeffrey, followed his example. This was followed with kisses and hugs for other family members. Then just before midnight we gathered in a circle to pray. As 2005 ended and 2006 began, we were praying, dedicating ourselves to God for the new year. Then with a kiss my wife and I wished each other a Happy New Year.

This year our New Year's celebration had a special challenge. Beginning Friday morning there were problems with our sewage system. Water began to back up in the shower down stairs. All the drains were sluggish and slow. With the help of my oldest son, Daniel, I tried to unstop the drains. All to no avail. Odell used his backhoe and began digging outside. Finally on Saturday evening he discovered the problem. Roots had grown into our system where the large drain pipes enter the tank, creating an ever growing blockage. Nothing to do but finish diggin it up on New Year's Day after church. What a job! What a way to spend New Year's Day!

Still there was something very special that happened. My wife and I were delayed getting home because of counseling at the church. When we arrived home, we had company. Rocky and Ruthina had come because Rocky wanted to help. What a blessing. Think about it. How many times have you given up your holiday to go help someone with their stinky poblem? There he was with his gloves on and his boots muddy with shovel in hand, helping Odell work on my my sewage system. This morning Rocky reminds me of a verse from Galatians:

Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2

This mess wasn't his burden, but Rocky had faced this kind of poblem before, and he wanted to help me carry my burden.

John wrote about the kind of relationship we ought to have as Christian brothers in the first of his letters.

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 1 John 3:16-18

This morning I want to thank God for an example like Rocky. Wow, what a wonderful way to begin the New Year, seeing God's love manifest not just in words but in action. May God fill your year with evidence of His amazing love. Happy New Year!