In about two days, 2021 will be history. If you are like me, you wonder how 365 days could fly by so rapidly.

I Googled the question:  How many minutes are there in a year? There are 525,600 minutes in most years, 527,040 in a leap year.

I wish I could say that I lived each one of these minutes with focus and intentionality, but I can’t.

As I’ve said here before, around this time, our most important asset is not money but time. Time is life, and life is time. So how we spend our time is the single clearest indicator of what’s important to us.

Why not take some time in these closing hours of the year and do a quick review of your life?

Here are some questions to help in the process:

• What were some of the happiest times in 2021?
• What were some of the low points in the year?
• Where did you see God at work in your life?
• Did you accomplish any of your goals?
• Are there any relationships that were strained or broken during this past year?
• What might you do to attempt repair?
• Were there times in 2021 where you squandered your time on minimal things?
• What are you most thankful for as you end the year?

I am sure there are other questions you can create to help you probe your life and your expenditure of your 365 days — those 1,440 swiftly passing minutes in each and every one of them.

I cannot close my thoughts on 2021 without commending our First Pres family for being strong and resilient during this unending pandemic.

While some have walked away, many of you continue to show up online and in person. You continue to reach out with love and offer compassion to those who suffer. You continue to use your gifts in service. And you give your resources faithfully for the work of God’s church.

Judith and I have been recipients of your grace and love. During the time of my mother’s strokes, and again when her brother died rather suddenly, you prayed, sent cards, emails, and texts to remind us that you care.

We may not have always used our time wisely in all the ways we could have, but we certainly used some of our time to encourage one another to stay the course.

Thank God for another year. We don’t know how long we will live, nor do we know what events — good or bad — await us. But rest in the assurance that we worship the One who was, and is, and is to come, the Almighty (Rev.1:6). God knows our future personally and communally. So, we will not fear.

Instead, we will live boldly in 2022, trusting God to teach us to count our days that we may gain a wise heart. (Psalms 90:12 NRSV)

Looking ahead to 2022,

Pastor Raymond Hylton
FPCE Senior Pastor