- Glory to God in the Highest (published: Tabor Voice, Nov-Dec 2002; Divine Light, Dec 2003)
- Living in the Will of God (published: Tabor Voice, Jan-Feb 2003)
- What we should do this Lent (published: The Examiner, March 2003)
- Lost your reputation? Rejoice! (published: Divine Light, July 2004)
- The Potter & His Clay - A Spiritual Analogy
- Death on an Easter Sunday
- How Jesus saved us from the fire next door
- God isn't deaf
- Get on a Barnabus trip
- A Year Older and a lot less Wise (Part 1 of the Birthday Trilogy)
- He sang to me (Part 2 of the Birthday Trilogy)
- The Value of Intercession (Part 3 of the Birthday Trilogy)
- Do you want a FREE GIFT that can never be taken from you?! (Dec 2003 / Jan 2004)
- Love is in the air... (February 2004)
- Was it worth it all? (March 2004)
- I Confess... (April 2004)
- The Beautiful Blessing of Christian Fellowship! (May 2004)
- Power Evangelize! (June 2004)
- 'Best Friends' till the end (July 2004)
- Family Matters (August 2004)
- Do you know WHY you believe? (September 2004)
- You're going to be let down (October 2004)
- Praying with the Holy Pope (November 2004)
- Hang in there (December 2004) (published: Divine Light, Jan 2005)
- Just like that. And you're gone (January 2005)
- The Divine Lover of My Soul (February 2005)
- Is it ever "too late" to do right? (March 2005)
- To Emmaus, or back again? The choice is yours! (April 2005) (published:Divine Truth, April 2007)
- Bear Much Fruit (May 2005) (published: Divine Light, July 2005)
- Holiness and the Heart of Love (June 2005)
- Spiritual Boot Camp (July 2005)
- Abundant Life! (August 2005)
- Unanswered Prayers? (September 2005)
- Trust in the Lord! (October 2005)
- Persevere! (December 2005)
- New Resolutions this New Year (January 2006)
- 'Having it All' = Having Jesus (February 2006)
- He Understands (April 2006)
- My Invisible Tattoo (September 2006)
- Cardinal Justin Rigali ~ "Glorify God in Your Body" (October 2006)
- A Fattened Calf for me (December 2006)
- How to come out of a Spiritual Downward Spiral - Part 1 (January 2007)
- Jesus is Alive. Need Proof? ( October 2007)
- Biblical Catholics (November 2007)
- Religion or Spirituality? (September 2008)
- Lessons from the strange race between the Tortoise and the Hare (October 2008)
- How to react when Spiritual Leaders fall / backslide: (November 2008)
January 2006
New Resolutions this New Year
At the end of a year people get retrospective about the year gone by and many look back and realise that they haven't achieved as much as they would have liked to or done the things they wanted to.
It causes most people start the New Year full of good resolutions; resolutions to pray more or to see more of the world or to spend more time with loved ones.
Fear also plays a big part about making new resolutions. The fear for one's physical, mental, emotional & spiritual health cause people to make resolutions to stop smoking or drinking, to take an exercise class, to read new books, to give up a bad relationship or to try get closer to God.
For most people however, New Year's resolutions as we know it, rarely make it through the month of January. They are either abandoned as "impossible" or "given up until later date" or plain forgotten.
People have made and broken New Year's resolutions so often that they don't make any anymore. "It's just a waste of time".
But is it? Is the practice of introspection ever a waste of time? Is the setting of achievable goals ever a bad thing?
In fact, it is but the opposite. Studies have proven those who take stock of their lives, set goals & achieve them - or at least try to achieve them, are happier than those who don't do these things.
In order to make our resolutions work for us, we need a new attitude towards New Year's resolutions.
This is what I suggest you do:
(01) Sit down in the Presence of the Lord and look back on the year gone by. Thank and Praise God for everything that has happened to you - both good and bad. After all " All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose " (Rom 8:28).
(02) Make a list of all the goals you want to achieve in the following areas:
Family and Home
Financial and Career
Spiritual and Ethical
Physical and Health
Social and Cultural
Mental and Educational
(03) Don't make too many goals! Perhaps just one or two per category. Make sure your goals are not set so high that you'll never be able to achieve it.
(04) If possible, make a weekly schedule that sets aside time for you to achieve a different type of goal. For example, set aside Saturdays to spend with the family or Wednesday nights to spend more time on your hobby.
(05) Keep your list of goals or your weekly schedule in a place you can see it EVERY DAY. Pin it on your notice board or (especially good for those trying to lose weight) tape it to your refrigerator. Or if you rather not want to share it with everyone, find a place that you access daily which is private - for example the inside of your cupboard.
(06) At the end of every month, see how much you've done & give yourself a little treat if you've kept to the plan.
(07) If you like, make a list of successes & failures on the list itself: eg: Jan - (01) Mental goals not achieved (02) Family goals achieved! This will push you to achieving them the following month.
Step #6 is very important in making sure that your resolutions make it through the year. Even if you've had a couple of busy months in the year, it will ensure that when the year flies by (and doesn't it always?) you will have at least most of your goals if not all of them.
The new resolution you should make this year is to keep all your resolutions, come what may.
This new year 2006, I pray a special blessing upon all who read this - that you may get closer to the Lord & intensify your personal relationship with him.
Have a blessed and a wonderful New Year 06! May all your resolutions make it through to 07!
January 2006
