New Year's Prayer

Holy God of Heaven and Earth,

I know that a thousand years are as a day to you, but we humans are
bound up in time. As a new year is beginning, please teach me to ...

* care more about people and less about money,

* enjoy my work but not let it enslave me,

* and laugh more easily than I did last year.

As I get ready for 2008, help me to remember things that are easy to
forget ...

* that it might well be my last year,

* that some people are counting on me,

* and that you have things for me to do.

Lord, with the things I have accumulated over the years, please let
me ...

* shake off the monotony of life,

* try some new things in this new year,

* and mend some broken fences.

And, Father of Mercies, please teach me in this new and unspoiled
year to ...

* lighten up and enjoy children, sunsets, reading, and long walks,

* avoid quarrels and work at being a peacemaker in this world,

* and start next year with fewer regrets than I bring to 2008.

May we live it for your glory!

I cannot know what this year will bring, and I am grateful for that!
But help me ...

* eat less junk food,

* exercise and take better care of my body,

* and learn to enjoy the simple pleasures of life.

Above all other things, Father, I want to be your instrument for ...

* easing somebody's too-heavy load,

* relieving some sad person's misery,

* and introducing some lost soul to Jesus.

Come what may in the year about to begin, may we live it for your
glory, within your will, and to your delight.

We pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.


from Rubel Shelly

Special Dental Report

Tooth decay affects 60 to 90 per cent of schoolchildren worldwide, according to the World Oral Health Report by the World Health Organization. An estimated five billion people worlwide experienced dental caries, and five to 20 per cent of middle-aged adults have severe periodontal disease, which may result in tooth loss.

There's mounting evidence that your oral health affects your entire body. The millions of people with periodontal disease may have a higher risk of heart disease, diabetes, lung infections and preterm births. Recent studies have shown a link between periodontal disease and pancreatic cancer. And infected teeth and gums left untreated can lead to dangerous, even life-threatening infections of the neck, blood, lungs and brain.

It's clear that without oral health, you're not healthy.

"Patients with periodontal disease bear inflammatory events in other body systems,"

says Dr. Gan Siok Ngoh, Periodontist from the Q&M Dental Group in Singapore. "Individuals with periodontal disease are 30 per cent more likely to have cardiovascular disease."

Prevention is the cheapest and best way to avoid problems. But fortunately, improving your dental health improves your overall health too. Researchers reported in The New England Journal of Medicine this year that treating advanced gum disease lowered blood pressure, thereby reducing the risk of heart disease.

from Reader's Digest, December 2007