Another New Year

Happy New Year! Here it is, the time of the year when many people are making resolutions. The problem is, I’m not very good at resolutions. I haven’t made many at all over the years, and when I have made them, I tended to forget them just as quickly as I turned the page on the calendar. I simply couldn’t get into the whole concept, and I know that follow-through is not my long-suit in the case of resolutions.

Some people who don’t make resolutions have started to do something a little more evolved. They pick a word for the year. I was thinking about doing that, but this time around the sun, I have some idea of the nature of the year ahead. After all, we are moving in just 18 days. Crazy, right? So rather than just picking my word, I thought maybe I’d create a word especially designed for the nuances of this particular year and then wear my word like armor. My hand-crafted word would be something like “mentamorph-tastic” (Liz’s definition: able to deal with change in the MOST AMAZING ways) or “abracadabra-cal” (Liz’s definition: delivering instant, magical results in real world scenarios). You really couldn’t miss with a word like one of those.

If only a word really could be worn like armor – that would be pretty cool, right? Well, the Word of God is like armor, protection from the evil one (Ephesians 6:10-18). Maybe I should pick a Bible verse for the year instead. I know plenty of people who do that, as an exercise in spiritual discipline for the year-to-come.

The problem is, I don’t like the idea of taking one verse, out of context, no matter how lovely it is. I’m greedy; I want a whole chapter. For this coming year, with all its twists and turns, I could learn so much from chapter 12 of Romans, with the emphasis on verse 12. I’d love it if you would read the whole chapter. It’s only 21 verses. However, for the sake of this blog, I am going to focus on verses 9-13:

“Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.”

Looking ahead, I know that this is will be a year of change.

We will be moving out of our home of the past 17.5 years and into a home that will need some work.

I will have the privilege of watching my granddaughter daily, after I get off work at the preschool, starting later this month.

We will be sharing our home with my daughter Emily and her husband Eric, starting in late July/early August.

Those are just the changes I know about. God always tosses in some extras, just to make life more interesting. As I look back on this past year, that was certainly the case. At this time last year, I knew about very little of what was to be, and yet the year opened like a flower before me. I can truly say that this year has been achingly beautiful.

I treasure memories from our amazing 35th anniversary trip to PEI.

Oh, how I love our sweet Granddaughter Elle!

I loved getting to know my Christmas present from last year, Rilla.

Moving preparations are a part of the final month of 2019

I feel like I need to be “abracadabra-cally metamorph-tastic” for the year ahead, but I know that I will fall short if I make that my goal. My real goal for the year is to keep my hands open to accept whatever comes my way, and to do it in the spirit of Romans 12:12, remaining “joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer.” I am completely convinced that the only way I can do that is to let God do it for me and through me, because He is all that I want to be and so much more.

2019, here I come!

We're looking ahead with joy!!