New Beginnings Editor’s Thoughts: “New Beginnings” Raylene Ann Rodrigo-Baumgart, BSN’78 Devotional: ………… “Being Organized” …….Raylene Ann Rodrigo-Baumgart Featured Items: “Together, We Hope, We Pray, We Share”……………………………… Edwin Gulfan “A Clutter-free Life”………………………………………………………………… Ainor Aganeo-Ombiga “Christmas Experiences & Perspectives”………………………………….. Alfredo Agustin Jr. “New Year’s Thoughts & Resolutions”……from contributors: Ruth Montano, Mimia Sanchez, Lou Branzuela, Gilbert Correces, Cheryl Lee Rodrigo SULADS Corner …....................…. “A Soldier for Christ”…………. Daniel A. Roa Patch of Weeds ………………………………………………………………………. Jesse Colegado LIFE of a Missionary ……………………………………………………………… Romy Halasan CLOSING: Announcements |From The Mail Bag| Prayer Requests | Acknowledgements Meet The Editors |Closing Thoughts | Miscellaneous Editor’s Thoughts: “New Beginnings” Raylene Ann Rodrigo-Baumgart The year 2017 is about to come to its close. On the first of the New Year 2018, millions of Americans will make a New Year’s resolution (or two or three) that they won’t keep. Still, despite the ritual’s repeated failings, year after year, we keep trying. This yearly tradition, which dates as far back as Ancient Rome, is a reminder that humans can't stop believing in new beginnings. How does your list look like? I think it can be really daunting when our list of New Year’s Resolution is as long as our Christmas shopping list. I firmly believe that setting small, attainable goals throughout the year, instead of a singular, overwhelming goal on January 1. By making our resolutions realistic, there is a greater chance that we will be able to keep them throughout the year, incorporating healthy behavior into our lives. It is important to remember that the New Year isn’t meant to serve as a catalyst for sweeping character changes. It is simply a time for us to reflect on our past year’s behavior and promise to make positive lifestyle changes to better our lives. Theodore W. Higginsworth, an American Unitarian minister, author, abolitionist and soldier (December 22, 1823 – May 9, 1911) once said, "A fresh start - a new day - a new month - a new year. Do you see each day as a fresh start or are you carrying yesterday into this brand new day. See the possibilities of beginning anew." The New Year 2018 stands before us like a fresh chapter in a book. To me, this means another opportunity to make myself into whatever I want to be. It is my chance to start fresh and evaluate my goal for the person I really want to be. What will you write for the next chapter of your life? It is entirely up to you. It is entirely up to me too. HAPPY NEW BEGINNINGS! Devotional ~Raylene Ann Rodrigo-Baumgart 1 Corinthians 14:33, 40 – “For God is not a God of disorder, but of peace. But everything must be done in a proper and orderly manner”. I had one more Christmas card to make and I realized I was missing one envelope. I then decided to go to my ‘junk room’ where I usually store all my crafts. The sight just bothered me. What a mess! I simply could not find the thing I needed! Clutter. Junk. Stuff. Call it what you like, I got so much of it and drowning in it. I must admit my cupboards and filing systems can't cope with it all, so it spills out on to floors and table tops, gradually taking over our house and in this space I called “junk room”. My daughter Alexa is always asking me. “How many clothes do you own? (and still insist you have nothing to wear) Can’t you just bring them all to Goodwill or Salvation Army?” It is true that we're the most materially endowed generation in history - and that's our problem. Without being aware of it, the stuff we spend our lives and money acquiring has become a constant, overwhelming source of stress, affecting everything from our lifestyle choices to our personal development. Our overfilled, cluttered houses aren't sanctuary from a hostile world anymore, or even sleek machines for living. They're messy, never finished, a constant source of stress, guilt and anxiety. Most of our time is spent working to get more stuff or to maintain the stuff we have already (cars to service, collections to add to, consumer durables to repair or replace, all that furniture to clean, objects to dust), leaving us exhausted, time-famished. Although we live in a culture of unprecedented plenty, we have the mindset of hoarders. My husband still keeps a boxful of his textbooks from college, old well- darned socks and gifts we didn't want and will never use. We can't throw anything away. We've become hostages to our stuff. I always find excuses such as “I will need them at my next Women’s Ministry party!” or “I hate to throw them away when I spent so much money on them?” Dejunking or decluttering- clearing out all that clutter and living a cleaner, simpler life should really be one’s goal. I know it is mine now. Done properly - which means approached from an emotional and philosophical point of view as well as a practical one – I know dejunking will be far more than an extension of spring cleaning. When I go to my junk room, I keep asking myself, “How did I accumulate all these?” Last month, I decided there and then to start getting rid of stuff. It was not easy. I started gradually, one corner at a time, one cupboard at a time and got boxes and sacks. I made a plan and labeled my boxes and sacks as “Trash,” “To Donate,” Too Important-Will Store in Attic.” I decided at that very moment that if I clear the physical clutter in my home, I can breathe better, be more relaxed and will find other things to pursue which will help me live a life with a purpose. It really took me a while to I realize what CLUTTER really is! It does not have to be messy. They can be boxed well or arranged well. Our homes are still considered cluttered and disorganized when we cannot find things, when closets are bulging and drawers are spilling over. Our time is cluttered when we have too many activities on the calendar and the ‘to-do-list’ is too long. Our relationships are cluttered when we continue to hold on to dysfunctional, hurtful, negative and toxic people or when we fill our days with meetings, parties and conversations that have no true meaning and value to our lives. Our emotions are cluttered with too many unresolved issues and unforgiveness and too much drama and unnecessary arguing or fighting. Our lives are taken over with clutter and we lose our way. We cannot find the path because so much is in the way. For this New Year, I resolved that I will never allow clutter to steal my energy for life. I need to take a deep breath and realize that God wants me to live an orderly life. I am assured that no matter what state I have allowed my life to become, He is still here with me, every step of the way. He is still here for me and for you and willing to help us clean the mess of the past. We just need to walk with Him through our homes, work places, emotions, relationships and allow Him to show us what we can get rid of. Let us formulate a plan on how to start the decluttering as the New Year comes. Work on it a little each day and you will see a much more peaceful tranquil life emerging from the rubble. I am still on a decluttering mission daily. How about you? When can you start? Happy New Beginnings! Quotes for the Week “Every moment is a fresh beginning.” —T.S. Eliot “We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us. The old skin has to be shed before the new one can come.” —Joseph Campbell “Be willing to be a beginner every single morning.” —Meister Eckhart “Let go of yesterday. Let today be a new beginning and be the best that you can, and you'll get to where God wants you to be”. ~Joel Osteen “Let's forget the baggages of the past and make a new beginning”. ~Shehbaz Sharif “Every minute you spend looking through clutter, wondering where you put this or that, being unable to focus because you're not organized costs you: time you could have spent with family or friends, time you could have been productive around the house, time you could have been making money”. ~Jean Chatzky “Every man should be born again on the first day of January. Start with a fresh page.” ~Henry Ward Beecher When it comes to New Year celebration, people have some of the strangest New Year’s traditions. While champagne, confetti and counting down to midnight have become the standard way to celebrate in many countries, some cultures still have their own specific ways of ringing in the New Year, including some very original practices. **In Denmark they save all of their unused dishes and plates until the 31st of December when they affectionately shatter them against the doors of all their friends and family. **In the Philippines it’s all about the cash. They believe that everything should be round so as to represent coins and bring wealth. Round food, round clothes, as long as it’s round. They also wear polka-dotted dresses for fortune for the New Year.