God is alive and available to all who ask him to reign in their lives. I am so thankful and so blessed to have a relationship with God, the Father. I ask for his blessings throughout each day and am so blessed to witness the answers he provides. For the past couple of years I have been guiding my family to embrace relationships; time well spent with family and friends, instead of feeling and thinking that they need so many material things. This year for Christmas we decided to embrace "less" under our Christmas tree and share time together as a family. We planned a trip to New York City for family time instead of "more" presents under the tree. We were truly blessed during this time together. Guess what!! Our cups were full and our hearts were warmed with appreciation for one another. What a great blessing, from our Savior, to be able to recognize God's gifts.
The weekend arrived for our NYC trip and our family drove to the City for the weekend. The forecast was rain and cooler temperatures. We thanked God for rain instead of snow. I asked God to provide us with a beautiful day on Saturday and then told my family we would be having sunshine on Saturday. Guess what!! We had sunshine all day on Saturday. God answered my prayer and provided us with a glorious day to experience NYC as a family. I prayed for safe travels to and from NYC. We saw several accidents; semis and cars in the ditches on our drive from what appeared to be icy road conditions, but did not experience any ourselves. Another prayer answered.
New York City is a very busy place, especially during the Christmas season. Lots of tourists were out and about from sun-up to sun-down. Pedestrian traffic is congested. We have several small children in our family, so naturally I prayed for their safety during our trip. I did not want them to become separated from us. Pedestrian traffic was so intense that I doubt we would have found them if they were separated from us. Rush-hour subway traffic was the worse! I prayed every day; several times each day, for our safety. Guess what!! Praise the Lord for answered prayers. Our entire weekend experience was wonderful. God is so good.
It is so important to give the glory to God, acknowledge him for every answered prayer. We need to believe in answered prayers and then we will see God in action. All things are possible through God. My 2019 Resolution is to become more familiar with God's Word. I read a devotion each morning, but I need to do more. What have you planned for 2019? Where have you seen God in 2018? Where do you want to see God in your life during 2019?
Wishing you a safe New Year's Even and prosperous New Year!