I recently received a clipping from my sister Jan; it was an editorial written by John Skipper and printed in the Mason City Globe Gazette. He was welcoming the new year with a couple of observations (in part).

Annual hope for a year of snow cones

"My friend Lois Awe has an idea on how to make the world a better place.

"She wonders what it would be like if people all over the world approached each other every day with the simple question:  'What can I do for you today?'

Among other comments, Skipper quotes a couple of comments from Max Lucado. At one time, Lucado had a conversation with his six-year-old daughter, explaining to her that his job was to provide good news to people, to comfort them, to lead them in the right direction and to try to make them happy and content.

"The little girl thought for a moment and said, 'Why don't you just give out snow cones?' Skipper continued, 'As we begin the new year, I wonder if there are things each of us can do personally to make the world a better place.'"

"And I agree with Lois. A good start would be to ask, 'What can I do for you today?'

"But as is so often the case, sometimes adults waste a lot of words explaining a philosophy that a child can say succinctly in once sentence.

"So here's a New Year's resolution for me -- and for you if you want to try.

"How about if each of us, in our own way, makes an effort to offer up a few snow cones this year."

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