Rev. Billy Graham, spiritual adviser of many U.S. presidents, wrote this beautiful prayer. May these words guide all of us beginning today and for the rest of 2012…
Our Father and our God, as we stand at the beginning of this new year we confess our need of Your presence and Your guidance as we face the future.
We each have our hopes and expectations for the year that is ahead of us—but You alone know what it holds for us, and only You can give us the strength and the wisdom we will need to meet its challenges.
So help us to humbly put our hands into Your hand, and to trust You and to seek Your will for our lives during this coming year.
In the midst of life’s uncertainties in the days ahead, assure us of the certainty of Your unchanging love.
In the midst of life’s inevitable disappointments and heartaches, help us to turn to You for the stability and comfort we will need.
In the midst of life’s temptations and the pull of our stubborn self-will, help us not to lose our way but to have the courage to do what is right in Your sight, regardless of the cost.
And in the midst of our daily preoccupations and pursuits, open our eyes to the sorrows and injustices of our hurting world, and help us to respond with compassion and sacrifice to those who are friendless and in need. May our constant prayer be that of the ancient Psalmist: “Teach me, O Lord, to follow your decrees; then I will keep them to the end” (Psalm 119:33)…
As we look back over this past year we thank You for Your goodness to us—far beyond what we have deserved. May we never presume on Your past goodness or forget all Your mercies to us, but may they instead lead us to repentance, and to a new commitment to make You the foundation and center of our lives this year.
And so, our Father, we thank You for the promise and hope of this new year, and we look forward to it with expectancy and faith. This I ask in the name of our Lord and Savior, who by His death and resurrection has given us hope both for this world and the world to come. Amen.
SPORTS. My personal prayer for each of you, dear readers, is this: That we live healthier lives this 2012. To be specific, we need to spend more time taking care of ourselves. In even simpler language: we need to exercise more.
Everybody is busy. Yet, every body needs to get busy. Every body needs to sweat. Every body, despite our busyness, needs to undergo daily physical stress.
I’ve known this all my life and I’ll live with this tenet until my last breath: the more time I spend biking, running, playing tennis or badminton, swimming, or merely walking, the better I feel. My mind clears. Doubts are erased. A smile spreads across my face. Energy is restored.
I wish and pray that, for all those who’ve been dreaming of joining their first 5K or crossing that 42K marathon finish line—that this year, 2012, the Year of the Olympics in London, be that year.
Don’t delay. Don’t procrastinate. Spend the most money you can on sports—enrolling in that fitness gym, purchasing those Nike shoes, buying that elliptical machine. The more expensive, the better… you know why? Because you’ll treasure and use it more. And, the more you use these fitness gifts, the healthier you’ll become.
Run. Join the Cebu City Marathon next Sunday. Swim. Bike. Join the XTERRA this March or the Ironman in August. They’re all in Cebu. The Cebu City Sports Center? In a few months’ time, it will reopen with a brand-new rubberized track oval. Step on it.
Here’s what’s important: Allocate 30 minutes of each day’s 24 hours to sports and fitness. The more time, obviously, the better. I guarantee you: you will never regret these moments you’ve set aside for yourself.
Make this schedule part of your daily routine. Like bathing before going to work; like eating breakfast, lunch and dinner; like going to sleep… make this “sports time” a must-do, part-of-my-daily-schedule portion of your life. This is my wish for you.
Happy New Year. Happy New You.