If you're reading this, congratulations – you made it! You're almost a month into a brand new year. A year that came pre-loaded with its challenges and thoughts of what victories lie ahead,and the memories of time 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, 2020 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 days of 2021 with the knowledge we have choices. We can each choose to see a winding road strewn with rocks, slopes, and unknown peril around each bend, or 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 2021 without making a resolution or a promise, but there is plenty of positive change you 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 bring relationships alive and deliver music filled with the good news that God loves you. The two greatest things we he hope to inspire in you is to love Him back, and love others more than yourself. 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.