New Year, New Day

Happy New Year, friends! It seems fitting to talk about new things as we enter into this first day of 2015. Doesn't it? 

I don't know about you but this girl gave up making New Year's resolutions years ago. I finally realized I was just better at some things like shopping, baking and napping, than I was at keeping a resolution I made on the first day of the year. It was just impossible! So I stopped that mess and all the defeatism that came with it, and started doing things a little differently.

I began spending some very focused time with the Lord at the beginning of each new year, seeking Him for what HE wanted to do in me in the next 365 days. What. A. Difference. That. Made. I went from wimping out on my resolutions in just a few weeks, to pressing into God's yearly design for me and sticking to it even when I messed up. 

Now, it seems that before the new year even arrives, I have a gist of what the Lord wants to do in me before I even ask. Maybe that comes from walking with Him for so long, or perhaps from this yearly New Year's routine. I don't know, and it's not fully clear because I think the Lord really likes it when I take that extended time to be with Him just to work on me, looking more like Him.  

Part of that is going to entail dusting off some gifts and skills that may have experienced a little atrophy because of lack of use. No shame there. Well, there is a little, especially from this girl who is always pressing others to step up to the plate and use what God gave 'em! I've become aware of some things in my life which I've allowed to become dormant - gifts, talents, abilities that only God and I know, should be getting more air time. So in His gracious mercy, He's created a few situations where I've needed to take those things off the shelf, brush off the cob webs and see if they still worked. They were a bit rusty, but what's that scripture say about the gifts of God? Oh yeah, "For the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable." Romans 11:29 

So If you've known me a while, look for some old things to resurface in a new way. In truth, in every circle of relationship, different gifts and talents emerge. I've marveled recently at how true that really seems to be. What I believe is also true is that the me you know today, and the things you seem to like about me now, will only be better this time next year. That is my prayer and the journey I'm on in 2015, starting with this, Wednesday's Washing - the new devotional I told you all about in my last entry.

Talk about dusting off some stuff! Whew! I love to write. Really, I do, but this was something different. It's a weekly commitment which requires some talent stretching and also that word I'm not good at - discipline. It's just one of a few things getting new life in this new year. If you are anything like me and you have your own little menagerie of things you know need to see the light of day, would you please say a prayer for me? There's more coming. This one was easy, sorta kinda. It's the heart stuff, the desires pushed aside and high road way of thinking that I think is gonna kick my rear. Yet these lyrics from a song on my never-ending, don't touch that button playlist keep resonating in my heart.

"I wanna be a voice and not an echo."

So I'll keep doing the hard work it'll take for me to be a voice and a better me. I deserve to see who God created me to become. And so do you. More importantly, He is worthy of a life well spent.