Hello, God. It's me, Mara.

You know, Lord, a New Year starts this week, help us keep the star in mind, the one the Wisemen followed as we read in Matthew 2:9 and 11: "And lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was ... they bowed down and worshipped him." The Christ Child!

Christ is soon forgotten as the magic of Christmas fades away; the glitter of rosy cheeks pales again; but for a moment we understood. We discovered the presence of Christmas afresh and anew as we were reminded what is worth having and what we were intended to be. Mac Lucado says it well in GOD IS NEAR: "We forgot our compulsion of winning, wooing and warring, we hung up our stopwatches and weapons. We stepped off our racetrack and roller coaster and looked outward toward the star of Bethlehem."

Help us keep that star in mind, Lord, the one the Wisemen followed, so we'll fix our eyes on, You, Lord Jesus. It is important that we do not forget You! If we forget anything - or almost everything - let us not forget, our Lord Jesus!

But Lord, we do forget - that's just how we are. We don't mean to; we don't purposely turn away. You name it and we just seem to forget because we get so excited about movies, assignments, promotions, budgets, kids - about everything else - that we forget to take You with us! Sorry, Lord,

Thank You, Lord, that Your love for us, the love that came down as Jesus, does not depend on what we do for You - but that our value is inborn as is written in Genesis 1:26 "God said, 'Let Us make man in Our imagine in Our likeness.'" You said it and You did and here we are.

Love, Mara