Monthly Prayer Alert from Carol Bauer Fighting For Faith, Family & Freedom Friday, January 21, 2022 To: Friends & Supporters From: Carol Bauer As you know, my wife, Carol, prepares a monthly prayer alert. I hope you will share Carol's thoughts with your friends and fellow worshipers. Thank you for taking an interest in her monthly devotion. --Gary  A new beginning. The year 2022 stretches before us. The calendar displays pages of blank spaces that will be filled in by everyday events and big ones, too. The challenges of a new year give us pause. For me, the new year is wrapped in possibilities not yet realized. There are people we have not yet met who will have a profound impact on our lives. There are personal events that will affect the trajectory of our year. World events will shape 2022, too. And the personal choices we make will help define the year that spreads before us. There is one constant, and that is we all have the same number of hours in each day. The challenge is how each of us uses those hours. The turning of the page to a new year prompts us to examine not only the general direction of our personal lives but also the direction of the country. That process of reflection is very, very sobering. Gary has written frequently about this in his End of Day reports. He has noted that over the decades, as America has become less focused on living out Christian values in our everyday lives, the various measurements used to determine the health of a society have turned negative. Most unfortunately, this trend has seemed to be in fast forward during the past year. To illustrate, a Pew Research Center study released at the end of 2021 showed the percentage of adults who say religion is very important in their lives dropped from 56% in 2007 to 41% in 2021. That is a major drop in just 14 years! With the decline of the impact of religion on our daily lives has come a stark change in society as a whole. The recent trends of measures of a healthy society have shown growing dysfunction. Family formation is down, birth levels are down, education standards have dropped, respect for law enforcement has dropped and crime is on the rise. The list goes on and on, and I suspect you are all too familiar with it because you can see it all around you, in addition to reading and hearing about it elsewhere. My prayer for the coming year would be that men and women of faith take a more proactive role in acknowledging the declining measures of a healthy society and look for opportunities in their daily interactions to turn this around. Regular church attendance should be supplemented by involvement in your neighborhood and community to live out those Christian values and be a force for societal improvement. It could be mentoring young married couples, tutoring struggling students, becoming involved in your local school board, helping a neighbor in need, founding a church Citizenship Ministry, encouraging your local law enforcement officers, or any number of other ways to impact your circle of influence with the faith values that mark your life. If others can see the love of Jesus Christ in our words and daily actions, they are more likely to be drawn to the faith we espouse. One person at a time, one act at a time, together we can work to change the downward trend of religious affiliation, and, in turn, improve the country we love. Heavenly Father, you have given me the gift of a new year. Thank you for opening my eyes to the opportunity and responsibility that comes with a new year of life. Dear God, I look around my country and I see much hurt, a lack of purpose and responsibility, a lack of commitment, and lowered standards. I fear the impact of this trend on the country I love. Guide me, Heavenly Father, as I look for ways to improve the lives around me. Help me to embody Christian values in my everyday life so that others will in turn be drawn to the Jesus I serve. Give me eyes to see the needs on my doorstep. Give me words of wisdom and helping hands. Give me words of love and encouragement. Help me to be a spark for change in my community and our larger society. MAKE YOUR TAX DEDUCTIBLE DONATION NOW As a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, donations to American Values are tax deductible for federal income tax purposes. Contributions may be mailed to the following address: American Values PO Box 1223 Merrifield, VA 22116-1223 Phone: 703-671-9700 SIGN UP FOR GARY BAUER'S "END OF DAY REPORT"  VISIT END OF DAY ARCHIVES EMAIL CAROL BAUER FOLLOW GARY ON PARLER American Values | ouramericanvalues.org ‌ ‌ American Values | PO Box 1223, Merrifield, VA 22116-1223 Unsubscribe [email protected] Update Profile | Constant Contact Data Notice Sent by [email protected]