Here we are, a brand new year and a brand new decade! Where has the time gone? For my family, most of the last 6 months have been spent in hospitals and doctors offices. 2009 was full of fun times, blessings but also had it's share of crisis...or what we fondly like to refer to as 'opportunities to grow'! =]
I am really looking forward to this new year...but I always look forward to each new year. I love the fresh start, the Rose Parade and the bowl games. I also love looking for and filling in a new calendar...a tradition that I've passed on to my two girls, (they each get a new one every Christmas). A new year is a time for reflection for me - a time for new beginnings. I'm not one for making resolutions though. Nope, they never work for me.
I've found that those are only as good as one's own resolve. I always have good intentions at the beginning of each year to get more organized, be more adventurous or loose some weight. However, I usually
peeter out somewhere before the middle of the month as the monotony of daily life bombards me.
One thing that I have done for years and found to be quite successful is to give a Christmas Gift to Jesus. Every year, (
usually beginning on Thanksgiving weekend), I begin praying - asking the Lord what He would like for Christmas, (it is His Birthday, don't ya know).
I usually feel impressed to give Him something that will take me at least the next year, if not the rest of my life, to give. Last year He asked me to give more Love...to grow in my love relationship with Him and with my family, (loving each one in the
individual way that would mean the most to them). Sounds like a pretty big order. It was. But it was so much easier that making a resolution to do the same thing. When I give Jesus His gift He empowers me by His Spirit to do it. Instead of mustering up the resolve or will power to do it, I plug into His power through His word and the Holy Spirit. Sometimes it's two steps forward and one step back but it's all good. It's about relationship. I don't have to have a serious measuring stick as my guide to success. As long as I continue to trust in God to help me I not only keep putting one foot in front of the other, even when I mess up, but I gain a deeper
relationship with Him.
This new year will see me actively engaged with Jesus in fulfilling His wish list for Christmas 2009. He asked two things of me...to
walk in His Spirit and to
trust Him in every aspect of my life. 2010 is sure to have it's own challenges as well as the continued health issues that my husband is experiencing, but I have a feeling that it will be a great year!
You see, I've found out that I can never out give Jesus. As I
endeavor to honor Him with these life lessons, He will bless me more than I can ever attempt to be a blessing to Him. As we all flip the page on a brand new
calender, the Lord gives us the opportunity to flip the page on a brand new life...one in which we seek to love and serve Him - to bless Him and others. I love fresh starts...and I love the ones the Lord provides. We don't have to wait for a Monday, new month or new year for a fresh start...we just need to seek Him.
