A New Year

Do you make New Year’s resolutions? I watched a co-worker pull out veggies and humus for her lunch this week, and more than one person asked her, “Is that your New Year’s resolution?” Random people in the grocery store line ask me, “Did you make any goals for the New Year?” My answer, “Ummm… no.” I’m a doer and a fixer and like to evaluate my life choices every couple of months instead of once a year. Plus, resolutions tend to take the form of a long list of things that need to be changed, and really, how many of us can fix more than one bad habit at a time? I suppose if someone told me to write down my goals for the year and they’d give me $10, I could come up with a list: 1. Join a gym. 2. Don’t eat french fries or potato chips. 3. Don’t stew about things that are already over. 4. Have more dates with hubby. 5. Don’t feel like you have to fix everything right now. Could I do all those things for a whole year? Probably not… especially #2. Then I started seeing one word statements popping up on social media: surrender, forward, enough, slow, present, faith, discipline, hope, quiet, less, joy. One word for the year that would bring focus to your life. In this time of fresh starts and new possibilities, be encouraged that God loves you right where you are. He’s working on you and in you. And whether you choose to keep a whole list of resolutions, follow one word that sums it all up, or don’t do anything at all, believe that God will be in every detail. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future,” Jeremiah 29:11.

This devotion was written by Julie Anderson, one of Sheridan’s Women’s Ministry Team members, as a way to bring encouragement to the hearts and minds of our sisters in Christ to KNOW, LOVE and SERVE God.