Sitting here in the cool gray morning of the first day of the new year I have been contemplating what my first post should be about. I had previously tossed around the idea of taking a look back at my ‘most inspirational’ posts of 2007 as Cariboo Ponderer did. I also gave some thought to seeking out a word that would express, as Mary from A Room of Mama’s Own stated, “my intention, my desire, my focus” for the new year. Yet, however wonderful these two ideas are, they just didn’t seem to be a ‘good fit’ for me.

So sitting here in the cool gray morning of the first day of the new year I headed to my library of books for inspiration. I found what I was looking for at first glance. I have chosen four books on which to build the foundation of 2008.

Although three of these books were not mentioned in this post (Books That Have Made a Significant Impact On My Life), they certainly deserve to be placed there now. Perhaps they were just ‘not sweating the small stuff’ with the knowledge that I would get to them eventually (grin). The fourth book should come as no surprise and I will certainly save the best for last.

Three of the four books that I am choosing as part of my ‘foundation for 2008′ are:

• Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff–and it’s all small stuff

• Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff for Women

• Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff About Money

It wasn’t the actual books that first caught my attention this morning. It was glancing at the titles of the chapters. They seemed to condense all my “intentions, thoughts, and desires” for the coming year. Take a peek at just a few that caught my eye out of a total of 300 chapters:

• Make Peace with Imperfection
• Learn to Live in the Present Moment
• Choose Your Battles Wisely
• Look Beyond Behavior
• Develop Your Own Helping Rituals
• Look for the Extraordinary in the Ordinary
• Wish Wonder Woman Goodbye
• Go with the Twists and Turns
• Protect Your Inner Flame
• Learn About Moods and Money
• Create from the Inside Out
• Go Ahead and Do It
• Persevere
• Don’t Take It All So Seriously
• Remember that Everything Has God’s Fingerprints on It

So there you have a glimpse of what I am thinking about as we head into the new year. Yet the big picture involves the most significant and singularly important part of any foundation, the cornerstone.

“The cornerstone concept is derived from the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation, important since all other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire edifice.”

The fourth book. My ‘cornerstone for 2008′ is my Bible:

• The Holy Bible is our guidebook – telling us how to live.
• The Holy Bible is our textbook – teaching us what to believe.
• The Holy Bible is our spotlight – showing us what God is like.
• The Holy Bible is our shield – protecting us from sin.

“The Bible teaches us what is true, shows us what is wrong in our lives and helps us to do what is right.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17

I heard this during a sermon a few years ago:

To know how to live, you must first know what you believe.

I believe, as Oswald Chambers wrote in his devotional for the first day of the new year:

“My determined purpose is to be my utmost for His highest – my best for His glory.”

Sitting here, in the cool gray morning of the first day of the new year, I want to wish all of you a very Happy New Year!