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Gloria Dei ( Glory to God )
3711 Ridge Road
Highland, Indiana

As the old year comes to a close and a new one begins, we tend to look back and “review” the previous year as we also look forward to the new year to come. I’m sure there are many aspects of our lives we look at this way and stewardship can be one of these things.

2011 was a tough year for a lot of people. Loss of a loved one, job losses, pay cuts, were just some of the things dealt with and myself included. But as I personally “review” the past year, I find that even though we went through tough times we are still blessed.

First of all we are still blessed with a loving church family who accepts us as we are. There have been several times this year when going to worship was just what I needed – more so than usual. That’s when I decided I would give to God each and every week no matter what my financial situation was that week. I felt that if being at our church made me feel better when I was down, then there was probably somebody at worship each and every week who needed the same.

Secondly I looked at our situation a little different. My sister-in-law, Kelly Vates, wrote an article for her newsletter that seemed to be meant for me to read. In her article, she metaphorically compared life's struggles to winter in Northwest Indiana. Basically she reveals that our focus should be how God gets us through our problems in time. Not necessarily the instant we want it. Simply put, we may want our problem to go away NOW or we want a 75 deg. sunny day in late January. Neither one is very likely. Kelly also points our that if we have warm winter clothing, salt and shovels for sidewalk and drive and a little patience we will make it through another cold winter and the 75 deg. sunny day will come. Much the same way if we ask God to help us make it through our troubles while we are praying for an answer, we can feel some relief.

Thirdly I think I can say honestly that ALL of us have it better than most of the people on God’s good earth. If we honestly look at what we have at our disposal – warm homes in winter and fresh water at the push of a button or twist of a knob. Some people on this planet sleep in boxes or malaria infested jungles. Some people spend half a day fetching water that we would never drink. There are actually places where they are recycling sewage for drinking water – we live on the shores of 20% of the fresh water on the planet! The Great Lakes.

Sometimes I think God allows hiccups in our lives just so we can slow down and realize how blessed we truly are.

If we honestly look at how good we have it compared to so many others, how can we not feel blessed!?! Once we realize how fortunate we are, we will give what we can – to our church, a food drive, clothing, a gift for a child at Christmas who wouldn’t otherwise get one – so many ways.

So yep, I had a tough year, but God has given me so many ways to help me get through it – my wife and family, friends, my church family and still the opportunity to give something back. Because there are so many more that have it worse than I do.

Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year
          Randy Vates