Happy New Year, friends! It’s 2014!! Can you believe it? It seems like January 1 always rolls around so quickly, doesn’t it? Then again, I am always so glad to see it. After all the hustle and bustle and going and eating, I welcome the routine and structure of the new year.
I have to say that 2013 was a strange year. It was actually a good year for our little family, as far as personal goals and overall health and growth are concerned. But it was a year of great loss. We said goodbye to my grandfather, Jessie Burns, in April. Then we watched my stepfather, Ron Black, suffer for months in the hospital and eventually decide to go home to be with Jesus in November. As if that weren’t enough, my mother lost one of her best friends within two weeks, and then her neighbor’s husband passed away as well. Ridiculous amounts of loss really. I found (and still find) myself incredibly grateful to know that my mother knows Jesus intimately and that her hope and faith are in Him, not in this world. I can’t imagine what we would do without Him. It is with faith in Jesus and a longing to be about His work that we welcome a new year, thankful that He has called us to His purpose and that we have another year to serve Him and learn to know Him better.
I have been thinking to myself that I am not a resolution person, but today I reread this post and this post and realized I at least used to be one. Ha! People are allowed to change, though, right? I guess I shouldn’t say I’m not a resolution person – I just have changed the focus of my resolutions. Last year, I made a resolution to create toiletry bags for homeless people and keep them in my car. I loved the freedom of not having to focus on myself with my resolutions. No more feeling guilty if I ate that or didn’t lose 10 pounds. Which I actually did last year, but then I gained a few back, but who’s counting?
This year, I am following in the same vein as last. Resolutions, if made, will be outward-focused. It’s a great way to hold myself accountable to finding tangible ways to show the love of Christ. So this year, I will:
1. Make (at least) 10 more homeless toiletry bags to hand out.
2. Write a letter to Ginger and Cyndia at least once a month. They are our two Compassion daughters, who I am ashamed to say I don’t write to as often as I should. That will change this year.
3. Love on clients at the Pregnancy Resource Center, as soon as I am all the way trained. I’ll tell you more about this as it happens, I’m sure.
What about you? What are your resolutions? Are you even a resolution person? If you don’t like the traditional resolutions, I encourage you to make one that is not about you. Think of a way that you can serve and love others, and make that your resolution. You can’t lose.
p.s. Yes, I do realize it’s been a WHILE since I last wrote. Time just seems to get away from me. Bear with me, at least until I take the MCAT again. Surely after that monster of a test is over, I will have more time for blogging. I do miss it so.
