Good morning friends! Welcome to 2019! I am looking forward to a blog reboot this year after focusing on teaching and momming for a few months. Some of this content will also appear at hunterhillsprayer.org but that blog has lots of contributors so you should check it out
I love new years- new school years, new ministry years, new calendar years. I thrive in times of beginnings- but then I get busy. So THE New Year that we love to celebrate can be tough. My resolutions haven’t lasted, and I often set my goals and expectations way too high so by mid-January I am back where I started with a big dose of disappointment and discouragement added.
Over the years I realized something had to change, so I started trying some different things. Maybe you need some new ideas, so I would like to share my top three changes.
Replace resolutions with one word. I take my time with this. The two big questions for my word are:
How has God been growing me in the past year?
and
How does it appear He is trying to grow me in the coming year?
I have learned that taking inventory of all my flaws during this time is overwhelming and paralyzing. There are too many areas that need improvement, and they all seem so urgent. How can I ignore ANY of my glaringly obvious failings which are probably scarring everyone I love every day? God, my Father, does not parent this way. I can leave the long term sanctification in His hands and focus on His merciful leading for this year.
As I consider my two big questions, I talk about it with close friends, start considering specific words, and pray A LOT for God’s revelation. Once my word is chosen I write it where I’ll see it then use it as a touchstone for seeking God daily.
And I promise you, I have never been disappointed.
Well, you may say, but it is January and I don’t have a word. That brings me to another lifegiving change I made.
Use January to figure out the coming year.I do love the whole New Year energy and spirit of renewal, so I harvest all of that to power my prayers and optimism. But come on, friends. Whoever decided that December is the right time for self-reflection and goal setting? Can we all raise our hands and say that December is the most exhausting and potentially disappointing time of the year? Then we are bombarded with all the “Year-in-Review”s and “Top Nine”s and “Best of “ lists giving us a false sense of what is important and, worse yet, possible.
Don’t do it. Take your time.
Think about the foyer to your home. A guest comes to your door. You open the door, invite them in, and chat for a few minutes before inviting them further. You decide if you should bring them to the kitchen for a cup of coffee, or get out the leftover soup and offer them a bowl, or lead them to the living room to just get comfortable.
Consider January the foyer to your year. Welcome it, take some time to see what has been working in your schedule and what hasn’t. Then try a few things out. If you feel rushed and stressed every morning, get up a little earlier. If that is too difficult, maybe it is your evening routines that need to change. Your God-time has disappeared; do you need to find a different way to spend time with God? Or try a new time of day? If you want to choose a word for the year, use the month of January to do so. If you like having resolutions or goals, use January to set them, try them out, and refine them.
And that brings me to the last change I want to share with you.
Do not be afraid to try and fail and try again. Give yourself the grace you give your friends, children, students- anyone in your life except yourself. One missed day of God-time does not mean you hate Jesus. Being late when you mean to be punctual, eating out when you meant to cook, having a cookie when you gave up sugar- you would forgive these things in someone else, so forgive them in yourself. And if it happens over and over, prayerfully ask yourself what you need to succeed. Is it the right goal? Do you need support from a friend? Is there a book/podcast/website that can help?
We have a beautiful, flawed, forgiven and forgiving group of women In our community. I am so grateful to be a part of it. I would love to hear how you handle the pressures of a new year, or any way we can help you in this season.
Friends, I love you and I am praying for you as you begin the new year.
Inspired by Paul in Ephesians 1
I never stop thanking God for you—every time I pray, I think of you and give thanks. But I do more than thank. I ask—ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory—to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for his followers, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him—endless energy, boundless strength!
prayersformychildren.org 