My Most Memorable New Year’s Eve
People celebrate New Year’s Eve in many different ways. The most unusual New Year’s Eve that I ever experienced happened at the home of Ray and Faye Hess. They had a dairy farm and we lived in a small house that we rented from them. For several years we spent our New Year’s Eve with their family. There was always plenty of great food, fellowship and laughter. Now the Hess family was very fond of a particular game. They referred to it gleefully as “The Farm Game”. To this day, I do not know if this was the real name of this game or just a description of it. We had never heard of the game before, but it was a lot of fun.
Little did we know that the game was just about ready to become a reality? As we played the board game, an emergency arose on the farm…”the real farm”! A “real” cow was in labor and having some difficulty. Now, having been raised in a small city, I can assure you that I never had the “pleasure” of seeing a calf be born. We watched nervously as the men worked with the cow. I do not remember how long it took, but I remember seeing some amazing things. I never knew how intimately involved a farmer had to become with his cow in order to coax the calf to enter our world. We watched and we waited, then all of a sudden there was a loud moo and finally the little calf came tumbling out onto the soft bed of straw. The mother licked and cleaned her precious baby bovine. Now, to the Hess family this was business as usual. But, as the Houck family peered over the fence, we were filled with a deep sense of awe and wonder. We had just seen a new life enter the world. We were spectators to one of God’s glorious wonders…the mystery of life.
We stopped to reflect on the events of that night and we concluded that It seemed such an appropriate way to celebrate the New Year. Each New Year is chocked full of potential and mystery. We do not know what the year will hold: joys, sorrows, departures and arrivals. The stroke of midnight on January 1 is more than a moment in time; it signifies new beginnings, new life and new possibilities.
We stand at the door of a new year. 2012 is pregnant with all kinds of new experiences and potential and soon they will tumble into our laps. Are you ready to embrace the new life that the New Year will usher in? I say, “Embrace it!”
