Holy God of Heaven and Earth,

I know that a thousand years are as a day to you, but we humans are

Bound up in time. As a new year is beginning, please teach me to...

    * care more about people and less about money,

    * enjoy my work but not let it enslave me,

    * and laugh more easily than I did last year.

As I get ready for 2008, help me to remember things that are easy to

Forget...

    * that it might well be my last year,

    * that some people are counting on me,

    * and that you have things for me to do.

Lord, with the things I have accumulated over the years, please let me...

    * shake off the monotony of life,

    * try some new things in this new year,

    * and mend some broken fences.

And, Father of Mercies, please teach me in this new and unspoiled year

To...

    * lighten up and enjoy children, sunsets, reading, and long walks,

    * avoid quarrels and work at being a peacemaker in this world,

    * and start next year with fewer regrets than I bring to 2008.

I cannot know what this year will bring, and I am grateful for that!

But help me...

    * eat less junk food,

    * exercise and take better care of my body,

    * and learn to enjoy the simple pleasures of life.

Above all other things, Father, I want to be your instrument for...

    * easing somebody's too-heavy load,

    * relieving some sad person's misery,

    * and introducing some lost soul to Jesus.

Come what may in the year about to begin, may we live it for your

Glory, within your will, and to your delight.

We pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.