First of all - Happy New Year! I trust you were able to bring in the New Year with joy and celebration.
Don't you love "do overs"? Oh how I have often needed a do over in my life.
I love to look at a new year as a "do over". A fresh start. A new adventure. And I guess that's where the whole concept of New Year's resolutions come into play. Do you make New Year's resolutions? I can't say they are a bad idea, but so often I have made these promises to myself because of the fact that we have a new year and with it new opportunities.
However, I know for myself, more often than not, I have failed - and usually miserably - at those resolutions. I think somehow when i get to that new Year, I think that magically, I am going to possess some new power that will enable me to meet this new challenge and that because of the new set of numbers on the calendar, I will somehow be able to conquer this challenge because of the new numbers.
Alas, I fail. I have failed. So for me, I have often started a new adventure BEFORE the new year. I guess for me, I need to think about my resolution. I need to make it at a time when there is no pressure. I need to go into my new idea having given it a lot of thought. So for me New Years isn't about new ideas or new adventures. It's about continuing on in the strong resolutions I made the past year and trying to make them better. Trying to do better with the things I started working on the previous year.
However, what I do like to do is give my year a name. A label. An "umbrella thought". And so for the past few months, I have thought and prayed about what 2015 would be for me. In 2013, my goal was PRAYER. It was something that God really impressed on my heart to do more of. And through that year and this past, it has been something I have been privileged to do more of. Coming to the Throne of God is such an honor and privilege and it has really been a source of comfort and strength to know that God has provided this way for me to talk to Him - DIRECTLY TO HIM! Wow. . . . even typing that overwhelms me!
Last year the label I put on 2014 was BE MORE. And in some cases, it was truthfully a be less comment! Be more caring. Be more thoughtful. Be more patient etc. As you can see that really encompassed a lot of things, but probably the biggest thing for me was be more open to what God wants of/for me. It has been a year of growth. One that I have seen God's hand work in so many different ways. A year that I have felt His presence probably more intimately than ever before. It has been a year that I have felt more in tune with Him than I ever have, yet more aware of how far I am from where I should be in my relationship with Him. But definitely a year where I have felt more in love with Him than I ever have.
So, as I thought about what my "label" would be for this year, I thought about the past several years and the journey God has taken me on. And I think in the past, I have always limited God in my own mind. I either have not been open to where He would take me, or have not truly believed He could do the things He says He could and would. I have contemplated Heaven more in the last few months than I have in a long time. I have imagined what it will be like to sit in front of our Lord and Saviour and sing praises to Him.
So this year, I have decided to label my year "Imagine". Imagine all that God wants from me. Imagine all the things God is going to accomplish through me. Imagine the relationship that I am going to have with Him. Imagine. . . Imagine. . . . Imagine. . . . all that He has in store for me this year. I am excited about this label. I am excited for all that He is going to bring me this year. Good, difficult, stretching. I am excited for it. Because I know this to be true: that whatever God brings my way, He will be walking beside me each and every step! He will be there!!!! I know it doesn't make this an easy year necessarily. But I know it is going to be one of growth and closer intimacy with Him.
In the book, Oh, the Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss, I love the following statement:
I do have to say the book puts a lot of emphasis on doing things on your own - under your own steam - and that's not what I'm advocating!!! But I love this concept of looking big. Looking for the amazing things ahead that God has for me.
So as I start out my days in 2015, I can only imagine the things God has planned for me. I can only get excited for the places He will take me. It IS scary to think of what some of those places might be, but truly, I am excited. I am fully confident that He is going to help me BE MORE this year as well. I can only IMAGINE the things, people, places, situations that He is going to place in my path this year to help me be more of a follower for Him.
Join me won't you? In imagining all that God has in store for us. It's a great day to IMAGINE!!!!!
