Choices

I just hung my 2007 calendar up on the wall here in my office, reveling in the 365 blank squares staring back at me. Okay, there's a few that are filled in with important things like my mammogram later this month, my husband's 60th in March, and a Family Reunion we're hosting at Ashberry in June. But for the most part, it's a wide-open future pregnant with possibilities. Will this be the Year of the Book? (It's a little-known item on the Chinese calendar. All we need is for one publisher to say yes.) Will this be the year the new church my husband and I are working with will take off and run? Will this be a year full of goodness and blessing, overflowing with joy and wonder? Or will it be colored with disappointment; shadowed with saddness?

I know what version of the year I would choose--The New International All Is Right With My World 2007 edition. Fortunately, I don't get to make that choice. As inviting as it sounds, a life of ease is not what causes me to grow. I'm reminded of the hymn "Day by Day" which says:

Day by day and with each passing moment,
Strength I find to meet my trials here;
Trusting in my Father's wise bestowment,
I've no cause for worry or for fear.
He whose heart is kind beyond all measure
Gives unto each day what he deems best--
Lovingly, its part of pain and pleasure,
Mingling toil with peace and rest.

So as I start this year, I do so with the confidence that I only need to make the daily choice to follow my Father, knowing he will fill my days with the appointments he has for me.