New Year's Resolutions

If you’re not up to your elbows in New Year’s Eve party preparations today, you’re probably pondering what’s to come in the new year, especially if this past year has been unforgettable. When either an extraordinarily good or devastatingly bad year comes to an end, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day can seem so monumental and poignant.

My friend Brandy shared on her blog what God put on her heart for the new year: focus. In fact, I’ve come across many people over the years that take a single word a their theme for the year. I wish I was one of them. The next year might not seem so overwhelming.

I’m not a New Year’s Resolution kind of person. Most resolutions seem a little too vague and abstract for my concrete, pragmatic way of thinking. Don’t get me wrong. I’ve jumped on the resolution bandwagon many times, but then again, it’s pretty easy to keep resolutions like “drink more wine,” “display more fresh flowers in the house,” and “learn something new.” Although, the fresh flower thing did bomb horribly, too high maintenance for me, and I don’t do pretty very well. I keep thinking that if you can’t eat it, then what’s the point of growing it? And if I am growing flowers, then it’s to attract bees and butterflies for my vegetable garden, and I don’t want to cut those. They’re working!

The “learn something new” resolution as a no-brainer. Buried somewhere deep in my DNA is this thirst to try everything and to know and understand everything! I’m pretty sure this quest began at birth, but I’m positive it was in full swing by the time I was five and taking dance lessons while at the same time intensely watching my brothers so I could learn how to wrestle. I never did either one very well, but that never stopped me from wanting to learn. So, to make the resolution “to learn something new” would just be a bit redundant, I think.

Resolving to “drink more wine” is also an easy resolution to make. I make wine; therefore, I drink enough wine in the year. I know my limits and stay well within them.

So, 2010 is coming to close, and 2011 looms before me, and I don’t have a clue what to do with it. About the only thing I have is a to-do list. The outside of the house needs to be fixed-up, painted, and landscaped by April when the temperature begins to rise, and I begin to wilt. My husband and I are starting a new business, and I need to finish setting up the website and find a commercial kitchen to rent in order to teach canning classes. I need to paint the hallway, the kids’ rooms, and the master bedroom. I need to go to JoAnn Fabrics and sign up for a knitting class. I need to finish writing my novel. See, I told you it wasn’t anything deep and life-altering, just a to-do list. Maybe that’s the theme for my new year: checking things off the to-do list. That would actually be pretty cool, if you think about it.

Now, it may seem that I’m a bit flippant about this whole resolution thing this year. Maybe I am. I know that there are always things that I can improve about myself. However, I don’t need a new year to make those changes. I simply do them when the Lord reveals them to me. When the Lord revealed that my health was in jeopardy if I didn’t lose weight, I earnestly started losing weight. Last year, I lost twenty pounds. I don’t need a New Year’s resolution to keep going. It’s in my body’s best interest to keep going! That’s enough for me. My quiet time had been lacking for a bit, but I don’t need a New Year’s resolution to pick up my Bible and read. I just needed the reminder that my quiet time and my prayer time are the keys to my relationship with God. That’s enough for me.

Perhaps, I do have somewhat of a resolution this year. To pray more. I do spend a lot of time in prayer…alone. I don’t spend a lot of time praying corporately with other believers. That needs to change. And it is. Already my husband and I plan to spend a large chunk of New Year’s Day praying together about the upcoming year. I find myself excitedly anticipating the day! Even the to-do list motivated Martha in me is anxious for a day of prayer. Hmm, I wonder what God has in store.

Thanks for stopping by! It’s been an interesting and somewhat chaotic year for us, and I’m looking forward to life slowing down a bit in the second half of next year. Until then, I’ll just keep working on that to-do list. How about you? What does your next year look like?

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,

Betty