I love New Years!

Love! Love! Love!

My husband used to tease me every year. I’d ask what his resolutions were this year and he’d always answer, “my resolution is to not make any resolutions this year.”

Bah! Nonsense. I think resolving to become better is a beautiful thing! After all, isn’t that the beauty in Christianity? Each day we get to try again.

So I see New Years as a day that marks second chances. A day overflowing with grace. We all get a new slate. Yes, we ate too much over the holidays but this time we’re going to lose. this. weight. Yes, we still have that pile of books we wanted to read last year and never did it. But this year we will! Yes, we still are swimming in debt. But this year we’re gonna buckle down and get rid of it!

For me, I realized Christmas morning what it was that I needed to do this next year. My oldest daughter handed me this letter.

“I wish I could spend more time with you!”

Wow.

I’m home all. day. long.

She wants to spend more time with me?

My heart melted in a puddle before me. I’m here with my children all day but I’m not with them. I’m missing out on a big portion of their lives. I’m choosing Facebook. I’m choosing chores. I’m choosing to chat on the phone. I’m choosing so many other things over my children. Because I have this delusional idea that they’re always here and I can always tend to them. But how much longer before they’re gone? That baby that I brought home is almost double digits. I need a second chance.

So this year there’s going to be some major changes here. Changes that will prayerfully fill this home with life and laughter.

What is it that you need a second chance at? Make that commitment today. Know that you might fail but commit to picking yourself up and to keep on trying despite setbacks. With God all things are possible. Trust Him to help you through.

Blessings!

I have a tradition in preparation of the new year. At the end of December I come up with one word that I want to focus on for the coming year. A word that I hope will help change my worldly way of thinking. I recall the first year I had chosen the word “grace”. I painted a small canvas and set it as a daily reminder.

Might I encourage you to do the same? Pick a word? A line of scripture? Something that might draw you closer to Him.

This year I’ve chose the word “immerse”. In hopes of immersing myself in His word. Immersing myself in my children’s lives. Immersing myself in my marriage. Immersing myself into serving Him.

Once the word for the year is chosen it’s time to create a way to remember. And this year was highly ironic.

I chose to take an exacto knife and cut out each letter from cardstock and mod podge it to a piece of scrapbook paper.

After the first letter was out I was strongly discouraged. This was taking {what I thought was} for.ev.er. But I went onto the next letter. And after the second letter was cut out I went hunting for another way to make my word art. I was done with this tedious cutting out of each and every letter.

Oh. Wait. That’s exactly what immersing myself into life is going to be like. It’s going to be hard. It’s going to be difficult. I’m going to want to give up and take the easy way out. This was all the  more motivation to finish these letters. And you know what? Plans change.

The finished art looked so much better reversed than what I had intended. I was going to place the cut out letters on top of the floral scrapbook paper but there was more beauty in placing the cardstock on top and allowing the design to peek through. Why do I have a feeling that’s going to be a running trend this next year as I begin to ‘immerse’? Hopefully I will also remember that His ways are always better than mine. I may have good intentions but God knows what is best in the end.

Prayerfully consider what word might benefit you this next year. And create art.

Blessings!