Thomas renews commitment to service for 2021
The first day of the year is often the beginning of people starting their new year's resolutions, such as exercising more, losing weight, finding a new hobby, or saving more money, and this start of a new year should be no exception.
After the rough and cursed year that was 2020, it is needless to say that there will be new year's resolutions to be acted upon with some more specific than the more common ones.
Willie Earl Thomas, Sr. is the Head Minister for Community Village Ministry, a new church he aims to start early this coming spring, and one of his resolutions for the new year is to be more active towards the youth and senior citizens of the community.
“I have a lot of concerns for our youth and our senior citizens,” Thomas said. “Being a minister for 30 years, it's hard seeing so much of our youth not having a vision towards themselves. What they see, they respond to. They make mistakes for the first time, and that mistake could cost them a lifetime. It's easy to get into trouble, but it's hard to get out of trouble.
“For our senior citizens, I'd like to see them be able to enjoy life. To say the least, 2020 was a rough year with all of the quarantine and places being closed, and you're still with family; but out in public, we're missing a lot of people, a lot of them have passed on.”
Another resolution that Thomas has for the new year is to be more thankful for the position he is in with his life and the relationships he made along the way.
“To start 2021, I have my 67th birthday this month which I am excited for, but I'm not trying to celebrate,” Thomas said. “I just want to be thankful and be grateful for it. I still like to be able to share my birthday with Ms. Magnolia Mitchell. She lived to be 112 years, 12 months, and nine days exactly. We used to celebrate together for five years up to her 105th birthday. She had taken me in as her grandson
“The Lord blessed us with seven more years, nine months, and nine days before she had passed. Her mind and heart were always in the right place. She was the type of person who inspired me more, because of the senior citizen day we have. (With) my mother's parents, my grandfather was 96 years old when he passed, and my grandmother 97, but they instilled to always do what is right.”
One more resolution that Thomas has for 2021 is to use his faith to inspire others the same way his faith inspired him through his new ministry he plans to start up early this spring.
“I'm blessed to be active in the community and look forward to working towards being more active,” Thomas said. “To start 2021, I have a new ministry that the Lord had inspired me to start. I'm looking forward to getting that started early in the spring, so that we can go out and make an impact.
“There are a lot of people in this world, in our community, they're looking for that light in their lives. Here's a saying that I have, ‘it's not who I see, it's who sees me.' The Lord convicted me that I had to apply that saying to life. It's not who I'm talking to, but who's listening to me, so, whatever you're saying, somebody's got to be listening to you. It's either going to be good or bad. Why not say something positive to inspire somebody because you don't know who you'll inspire one day.”