Happy New Year!  As 2016 ended, I was grateful to be in the company of my Union Baptist Church family for Watchnight service.  I was inspired by amazing testimonies from my brothers and sisters in Christ, exuberant music from our Sanctuary of Praise Mass Choir, and a challenging word from Pastor Hammond to come out of the cave and prepare for the castle!  Watchnight has been a significant observance in our heritage since December 31, 1862 when our enslaved and free ancestors gathered together at churches and homes across the nation in anticipation of the news that President Lincoln would issue the Emancipation Proclamation, setting them free by law from their enslaved condition.  I count it a privilege that we still gather as a people to celebrate God’s providence.

Now that 2017 is here, we are on the cusp of new beginnings and fresh starts.  No matter what we endured in the previous year, the New Year is a way of wiping the slate clean and setting forward ideas and goals that we hope will bring positive transformation and blessings throughout the year.  Some of us make New Year’s Resolutions, a tradition that spans thousands of years as people from cultures across the world renewed their focus and efforts on improving their service to God and enhancing themselves.  Common goals include improvements physically (e.g., greater fitness, nutrition, sleep, and less use of alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, and other drugs), psychologically (e.g., practicing positive affirmations, intentionality), socially (e.g., replacing negative relationships with positive ones), financially (e.g., giving more, saving more, spending less, reducing or eliminating debt), and spiritually (e.g., increasing prayer, Scripture intake, church attendance, volunteering).  With the refreshment of Christmas and the hope of the New Year on our side, we make these resolutions, confident that we will rise to a higher ground in the next year.

One of my New Year’s Resolutions is to share through writing what God has given me.  I will be blogging from time to time on my new website about various topics relating to our wellness and hope that you’ll join me on this journey.  Please feel free to share your own reflections, for we grown best through relationships. Also feel free to share these musings with your loved ones.

À votre santé (To your health)!

“Dr. T”

Tonya Armstrong