New Year's Day

by Rod Barnes

When I think of New Year’s Day

I think of years gone by

Of Christmases and seasons gone

And memories so nigh

I think about the tree right here

I’m about to unadorn

And how it must have been for it

To grow the years before

Of all the reaching, stretching, growing

All spent to reach this day

And how my life is so much like

That Christmas tree today

From small to large my growth has come

With ups and downs in life

I’ve tried so hard to reach my place

Through seasons, pain, and strife

The one thing that I know for sure

About this life I’ve led

Is that my God has always been

Just one small step ahead

He saw the picture from beyond

Before I was conceived

And even though I didn’t know

Or even yet believed

He put me down in fertile soil

And watered me with love

He sent me angels to guide me through

With power from above

The ones He put around my life

Were precious and sincere

To help me reach and stretch and grow

Until His day appears

And like that tree I one day soon

Will reach my final days

And stand in glory of His light

To sparkle in His ways

But when my season comes to end

He’ll take me from my place

And sit me down in perfect peace

Eternity in grace

So when I look upon these days

The year that’s up and coming

I have to think about His plan

And beat that He is drumming

I’ll stretch and reach and grow some more

Keep looking to the sky

To catch the tinsel He has thrown

Upon my branches high

Then one day soon he will return

To take me from my stand

And place me safely in His love

The final chapter planned