There's nothing magical about a new year. The earth continues to spin on its axis, the sun rises and sets, bills arrive in the mail, I still have to cook dinner, and the dust under the beds, dirty dishes in the sink and overflowing hamper of dirty laundry by the washer didn't disappear.
Three days into 2013 looks just like the last three days of 2012 - more or less. As my son Casey told me, "The only thing different about 2013 is that I'll be writing down the wrong date for the next three months." Isn't that the truth?
The reality is that every day is the beginning of the 365 days in a year to follow. A calendar just helps me stay organized - only God can make lasting changes in my life and He doesn't need a new year to do so - so when 2013 was only hours old and I'd already failed to meet new goals I'd set for the day, I had to laugh at myself, post a "to be continued" photo, and go to bed grateful for the gift of another day.
{Photo - our resident mockingbird, who likes to nest in the honeysuckle and greedily hoard the flame bush berries, but his serenades are delightful, so I guess we'll let him stay.}
