I heard a suggestion that instead of new years’ resolutions, we should pick two or three words, meditate on them each morning, and incorporate them into each day. Rather than resolutions to break, they are habits to form. I’ve chosen three words to guide me for 2014:

• Gratitude- to be thankful for so many reasons, and for so many wonderful people in my life. Gratitude itself is life-transforming.
  
• Simplify- to do with less and enjoy it more. Not planning too far ahead, but trusting that God will give me the resources I need to do His will.
  
• Learn- to do less talking and more listening. Approaching every person I meet as if they were Christ, and have something to teach me.
  

Many of my blogs this year will share how these three words shape my life in 2014. I’d like to start with gratitude.

I am grateful for Ann Burlingham of Burlingham Books in Perry, NY for hosting the official launch for my new book, Chasing My Father, last Friday evening. It was a blustery night with -7 degrees temperature, but everyone in the bookstore that evening was a delight to meet and talk with. Ann’s place isn’t just a wonderful bookstore on Main Street; it’s a community center with great books, educational toys and games, and the best coffee and conversation around! My book opens with a story at my parents’ gravesite in St. Joseph’s Cemetery in Perry, NY, so it was extra special for me to have my book launch there, and even better to make new friends at Burlingham Books.

Thanks to Ann and her staff for making my trip to upstate New York so special!

With love,

Agatha

(You can pick up an autographed copy of my book at Burlingham Books in Perry, NY, or St. George’s Episcopal Bookstore in Nashville, TN. If you aren’t in upstate New York or Nashville, TN, you can order on-line by clicking here.)

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