Screen Shot 2019 01 08 at 10.43.22 AM  If you’re reading this, congratulations— you made it! We’re a week into a brand-new year, complete with thoughts of its challenges, of what victories lie ahead and of the memories gone by. Over the past year, many of us celebrated the joy and excitement of new life, some experienced the sadness of loss, and, if we’re at all alike, we’ve done our best to be a friend offering encouragement in the wake of both the best and worst of times.

If nothing else, 2018 gave me opportunity once again to acknowledge the fact we’re all just passing through. We get, we give, we have and we hold, but in the end we arrive at the same humbling conclusion — everything on this earth is temporary. While we build mighty castles to wall us in or monuments to all we consider great, the only true legacy we leave will be found in how we loved.

Over time I’ve learned to loosen my grip on the things I think I control lest they begin to control me in return. And I am reminded there is a time and season for everything and a marvelous creator who steadies and stills us though it all.

I don’t want to beat a depressingly melancholy drum too long, so let’s peer down the road from these first few days of 2019 with the knowledge that we have choices. We can each choose to see a winding road strewn with rocks, slopes and unknown peril around each bend. Or, we can look a little further to the beauty of the horizon with the realization the road itself is a journey worth taking. Each step brings us closer to something new and often leads us away from things familiar.

In either case, we take those steps both challenged and comforted by an immensely wise creator who seems to say, “Be prepared to let go of anything I take from you, but never let go of my hand!”

You may have entered 2019 without making a resolution or a promise, but there is plenty of positive change anyone can work on this year. Start by simply being grateful. Take stock in all you’ve already been given. More than food, a decent car, a home or stuff to fill it, count the blessings of family, friends and life itself.

At WCLN, our daily charge is to help bring relationships to life and deliver music filled with the good news that God loves every person in the world. We believe the two greatest things we could inspire anyone to do is to love God back and to love others more than themselves. That’s what makes Christian 105.7 different, and it will work for you, too.

Enjoy your family and friends today. Give extra hugs and words of love just because you can. Make the world a happier place by doing some extra act of kindness. Smile a little bit longer. Most importantly, be grateful for the life you’ve been given.