I was rushing yesterday afternoon from my son’s house to a funeral viewing in Cookeville Tennessee and I was running late. I got off at the Cookeville exit and this man was sitting by the intersection with his bicycle, his ragged clothes and his sign.

I wizzed right by him and was caught by the red light and took another look at him through the eyes of my side mirror. His sign read, “Happy New Year”. My heart in my body wept!

Life is so busy crazy for me at times and I try really hard to do good and be a child of God but this man made me realize how very little I really do. I did not turn back around and honestly don’t even know if his needs were authentic but his little sign spoke volumes in my soul.

What is the New Year bringing to him? What will the year bring to any of us? We don’t have the promise of one more day or even one more second. We rush around like we are fighting fires when all God really wants us to do is love and care like He would. We are not the judge over people but He is!

My New Year needs to be more compassionate, more caring, and more loving! I need to seek God’s will more and ask for directions before I head out on my own instead of waiting until I am bogged down and then asking God what to do.

Maybe some of you saw this same man and you stopped or you helped. I commend you if you did and I feel ashamed that I didn’t.

I remember thinking how can he of all people in his predicament be wishing others a Happy New Year…. what is Happy about his year thus far? I don’t have any answers but just thoughts tonight as I let the words flow. Do we have the time to be Christians?

I will leave you with that thought. How do we really spend our time?