Wow! Another year has passed so quickly yet again. I don’t know about you but when the New Year rolls around, I will begin to think about preparing my taxes and collecting all the information that I am going to need. Every year, you have to do the same things and collect the same information over and over again. It is one of those things in life that we just have to do and there is no way around it. Every year, we have to take the task of evaluating our finances and give an account to the IRS so they make sure that they get their share. It seems like a constant evaluation process that we must do no matter what, or face the consequences of fees and fines.

This is, of course, the time of year when we evaluate our lives and make our New Year’s resolutions. I do not like New Year’s resolutions because we just do not keep them and follow through. Statistics show that of the ones who actually make a New Year resolution, only 3 percent will keep it … so chances are that you are one of the 97 percent. Let’s face it, if you did not want to do something all year long, what makes you think you will do it now? When we make a New Year’s resolution, we tend to look at the negative things in our lives that we do not like, and we want to change to make them better. I believe that there are things in our lives that we should change and make better. What if you tried something different and, instead of looking at the negative things in your life from last year, you focused on the positive things that happened to you, your friends and your family? We focus too much on the negative things in life all the time when the good things really outweigh the bad. When we focus too much on the bad things, they will appear to be larger than they really are. We can focus more on the good and positive things, and make the bad and negative things seem smaller instead.

PHILIPPIANS 4:8

8: “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” NLT

Why is it easier for us to repeat the negative things in our lives than it is for us to repeat and tell everyone about the positive things that happen? We need to make an effort to let the bad things go and to forgive and be grateful for the good things that happen to us. If you can change your attitude about your life, then maybe your life will be a whole lot better. It is too easy to be negative and bitter; lots of people do that already. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Thank God for what you have, and do not focus on what you do not. Be blessed and be positive.

Pastor Tony Guadagnino is a pastor at Christian Love Fellowship Church.

One of the most horrible traffic accident scenes etched in my memory as a former Indiana sheriff is of a young boy struck and killed riding his bicycle in front of his home. He was following instructions at the time of the accident to remain close to home and ride only so far north and only so far south.

Making the loop in front of his home time after time on the public two-lane county road one mile south of Interstate 70 became monotonous. The road was not heavily traveled and, at the end of one loop, he failed to look back before making his tragic last turn.

The young boy turned his bike in front of an oncoming truck and was killed instantly.

The boy’s small body was covered as we waited for the coroner’s arrival when the father of the child arrived home. It is painful to recall the raw emotion expressed by this very large man. “Where’s the driver?” he repeatedly screams.

The driver, also a large man, is sitting in the front seat of my sheriff’s car. The truck driver sees and hears the father and, disregarding my instructions, he exits my car. The two men physically come together as I run to step and squeeze between them. I feel like a slice of bologna between two pieces of thick hardened bread.

I see the arm of the father come over my shoulder toward the truck driver and I fear the worst until I see an open hand rather than a clenched fist, until I hear the father say, “I forgive you!”

By then, all three of us are crying…

This is the single most powerful human illustration of forgiveness I have ever seen, at least on the surface. The father in his rawest state of pain truly did not blame the driver of the truck. No. He blamed himself.

It was the father who had given his son the instructions that contributed to the son’s death.

There is no one in this world who understands this pain as purely as God the Father who sent his Son into the world to suffer and die in order to earn forgiveness for anyone and everyone who will but believe in Him.

Every Sunday in church, we pray the prayer Jesus taught us to pray. “Forgive us our debts (trespasses) as we forgive our debtors (those who trespass against us).” The truth is sometimes it is easier to forgive someone else than it is for us to forgive ourselves.

The words of Ecclesiastes come to mind. “For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven.” (3:1) The musical group the Byrds in the 1960’s convincingly sing these verses in their hit song “Turn, Turn, Turn.”

My New Year’s prayer for 2013 is that this be a time to forgive, a time when we not only forgive others, but a time when we also forgive ourselves, a time when God steps in between the hurting, the offending, the otherwise unforgiving. Think how many wars could be averted, how many marriages saved, how many conflict ridden neighborhoods or places of employment could be made peaceful if only we could forgive and be forgiven.

When we see the elementary school parent in Connecticut express forgiveness after the unthinkable, unimaginable, unnecessary loss of their child to a deranged gunman, we realize how often the real forgiver is God.

So unclench the fist and open the hand and follow the example of the world’s only perfect man.

Accept Christ for who He is, know Him, believe Him, give and receive forgiveness through Him.

Make 2013 a time to forgive.

Join us this weekend Saturday @ Six or Sunday morning at 8:30 or 11 a.m. The Message is “A Time to Forgive” based on Ecclesiastes 3: 1-14 and Colossians 3: 12-17.

Dennis Andrews Ed.D.

Reverend Andrews is Minister at Community Presbyterian Church of Deerfield Beach (Steeple on the Beach), five blocks south of Hillsboro on AIA. Visit www.communitych.org or Facebook.

Registration for the Doreen Gauthier Lighthouse Point Library Summer Camp begins on Monday, May 2 during regular library hours.  This year’s camp runs June 13^th through 17^th at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church Education Building.  Children who have completed kindergarten and not yet entering sixth grade are eligible to participate in the “Fun and Fit 2011” events.  Mad Science will be offering hands-on science experiences on how the human body works.  In the afternoon Miss Black, certified physical education instructor from St. Joan of Arc will be coaching sports clinics.  Surprise special guests are planned for each day.  The first 100 students will receive tee shirts provided by Balkan & Patterson, LLP.  Cost for the week is $185 if you enroll by June 1^st; $205 after June 1^st.  Call Doreen Gauthier 954-946-6398 for additional details.