On New Year’s Eve I always stay up till midnight. I don’t stay up till midnight because I want to. I stay up till midnight because Diane wants me to. By 1230 I am zonked. When I was younger we used to go to Walmart back in Mason at midnight because they would mark their clearance for Christmas to 75% off. They don’t do that anymore. Neither do I. But I digress.
This morning I woke up at about 7:15. Sunrise today was at 7:20. But church isn’t until 10:00 here at the beach. It is now 2023 and my first decision of the new year is before me. Do I sleep in or do I get up and go see the sunrise at the beach? I know many of you envy that decision. I’m not playing this as “what a tough decision it is.” But I was aware this morning that I had a choice to make. I don’t always think about the fact that a choice is before me. I usually just make decisions one way or the other without thinking about the actual act of making the choice.
If I hadn’t thought about having a choice, my natural inclination would be to roll over and go back to sleep for an hour. But because I thought about having a choice, I thought walking to the beach to see the sunrise was the better choice. So that is the choice I made.
I’m not much for New Year’s resolutions anymore, but I think this year I want to be more aware of my choices. Sometimes you and I don’t really have a choice, but most of the time we do. Perhaps if we remember we are making a choice, that God has given us a choice, maybe we will make better choices. That is my hope for 2023.
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