Reflections of the Year 2019 and the Promise of 2020

?At times, our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.? Albert Schweitzer

The Year 2019 appears to have gone by so quickly. As we reflect on the year, I am reminded of James 1: 17, ?Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows? (NIV). Truly in this year we have experienced many gifts from God. Individually we have experienced the gift of life, health, job, family, etc. As an institution, the undergraduate and postgraduate admissions and the new B. Sc Nursing course in the Chittoor campus was an attestation of God?s goodness. In addition, we have continued to experience provision for the expansion of work in the many campuses. His hand was upon us during the difficult times and challenges that we faced during the year. It is only appropriate that we, as individuals and as a community echo the verse in Psalm 107: 1, ?Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever? (NIV).

As we look ahead at 2020, we can claim God?s promise in Jeremiah 29: 11, ?For I know the plans I have for you,? declares the Lord, ?plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future?. The new projects at Kannigapuram, Chittoor and main campus are expected to be commissioned during the year. With these developments come opportunities to impact healthcare at large, grow professionally as departments and individuals, as well as touch the lives of the many patients who come seeking help during a difficult phase in their lives. When life is filled with opportunities, the big question is what we do with them. Do we let them slip by or postpone it to another day or do we seize them? The Psalmist says in Psalm 90:12, ?Teach us to number our days and recognize how few they are; help us to spend them as we should? (Living Bible). This passage urges us to use our time wisely to accomplish the purpose for which each one of us has been created and called to serve in this institution. At the end what matters most is not just how much we have accomplished in our life but how faithful we have been to what has been entrusted to us.

We are truly grateful to God for this year and we look to His continued blessing on us as we begin a new year. I wish to end with a quote by Sonja Lyubomirsky. ?Gratitude is an antidote to negative emotions, a neutralizer of envy, hostility, worry and irritation. It is savoring; it is not taking things for granted; it is present-oriented?.

Have a Blessed New Year 2020

Dr. J.V. Peter

Director