A smile never increases in price or decreases in value.

Blessings

Most people make New Year’s resolutions. I’ve made them many times in the past and then, like most other people, set them aside and completely forgotten them. I’m just not a resolution type of guy. I’m willing—no, avid—for God to change whatever He would in me and to make whatever He would of me, and I’m willing to work to become whatever He leads me toward, but I just don’t do well at saying “This year I’m going (or not going) to . . .”

Not to discourage you. Go ahead and make your resolutions, and I hope you can keep every one of them. Instead of resolving what the future is going to be, I think I’ll reflect on some blessing that affect my life.

After some mis-steps on my part, God brought a wonderful woman named Sharon into my life twenty-one and a half years ago. She joined me in marriage three years later, and we’ve been happy ever since. Yes, a minor spat here and there, but we’ve honored our agreement never to go to bed mad at each other. We’re very different, but we fit together very well.

Long before that, God blessed me with a wonderful, sweet, intelligent daughter. She has since given me a son-in-law and three grandsons, and she and her family are sources of great joy to me. My wife gave me a grown son when we married, and he has recently added a daughter-in-law to our family.

My mother, my sister, my cousins, nieces, nephews and other extended family members are all very important parts of my life, also. I feel sorry for anyone who doesn’t have a loving, supportive extended family to share with.

My church has been a great source of friends. I’ve had the pleasure of leading a Sunday School class for the last seven years, and I treasure the friendship of every class member.

Saturday afternoon I was reminded how blessed I am from my writing, whether I ever draw a dime of royalties or not. My friend Nigel Blackwell, whom I met through Warrior Writers Boot Camp, invited Kristen Lamb and me and our families over for a New Year’s Eve party. I got to meet his lovely wife Annette and their sweet daughter Angelina. I already knew Kristen’s husband Shawn and their son, whom she calls The Spawn, but she brought another writer with her, Ingrid Shaffenburg, who was a delight to meet.

Being with them made me think of others I’ve met through writing. In addition to Mike Bumagin, Jill Wagner, Tiffany White and my other WWBC friends, I’ve developed cyber-friendships with my fellow Life List Club members and with other bloggers I follow like Catie Rhodes, Ellie Soderstrom, Piper Bayard, Donna Collins Newton, Amber West, Cari Pedstelak, Derek Hawkins, Karlene Petitt, Jessica Patch, Angela Orlowski-Peart, Tamara Lunardo, Renee Schuls-Jacobson, and Marji Laine.

I could name many others, but I don’t want this blog to devolve into just a list of names. The point is that I’ve been blessed with countless friends I’d never have encountered except through writing.

When we think about our blessings, we Americans tend to think of our homes and cars and bank accounts and stock portfolios and such. I’m thankful for those things, but I don’t dwell on them. The true richness in my life comes from family, friends and acquaintances. I salute all of you and thank God for putting you in my life.

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Last Friday’s blog promised a drawing with prizes for one commenter and one subscriber. The winning commenter was Barbara McDowell, and the winning subscriber was Ellie Ann Soderstrom. Each will receive a choice of one of the following:

ü I trade guest posts with you.

ü I promote your blog/website/cause in one of my blog posts.

ü You interview me for your blog.

I’ll be in touch with each of you to see which prize you select.

David N. Walker is a Christian father and grandfather, a grounded pilot and a near-scratch golfer who had to give up the game because of shoulder problems. A graduate of Duke University, he spent 42 years as a health insurance agent. Most of that career was spent in Texas, but for a few years he traveled many other states. He started writing about 20 years ago, and has six unpublished novels to use as primers on how NOT to write fiction. Since his retirement from insurance a few years ago, he has devoted his time to helping Kristen Lamb start Warrior Writers’ Boot Camp and trying to learn to write a successful novel himself.