Making Resolutions that Matter
With the start of the new year, and a new decade, it feels like a really great time to step back and reflect on the last few years and what they’ve brought us. Between 2010 and 2019 we had some of the biggest life changes that a family can experience and there were quite a few good days, some bad days, an incredible amount of growth, and with it, some growing pains.
No doubt the BIG days like our wedding and meeting our children were some of the best. But we also had wonderful quiet days, beach days in the sand or playing in the snow at grandma’s house really stand out as some of my happiest memories. I know when I look back at my life, I will miss this crazy beautiful stage and all of the messy moments that have come with it. On those days it’s easy to fall asleep with a prayer of gratitude on my tongue.
But it’s not a complete picture without the bad, too. Building a life together came at the cost of putting everything else on the back burner, including finishing my education and any career ideas I had before motherhood and homeschooling became my full-time job.
We experienced terrible loss, three pregnancies and Caleb’s brother’s sudden death kept us leaning on the Lord harder than we ever have before. Doubts and fear created opportunities for the Enemy to attack our lives and most commonly, our faith.
During these moments my prayers have been consistently requests for strength, protection and deliverance. I take comfort in knowing that His power is made perfect in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9) and that suffering is never for nothing.
Then there are all the days in between. I think the majority of our time here isn’t really remarkably good or bad, but even the most routine of days can be very challenging to our walk with Christ.
In any one of those quiet moments, the questions created by silence when we ask the Lord for guidance start to amplify, and it can be hard to know where to go next. When I think of 2020, I’m unsure of where the Lord is leading our family, our group and our ministry. But there are a few things I am sure of.
For this year, and this decade (and potentially the rest of my life!), I’m focusing on the things I know are true. If my walk with Christ hasn’t improved by 2021, I’m not focusing on the right things. What then, should I resolve to do with my time here?
What are we commanded to do, whether things are good or bad, whether we agree or disagree with our lot in life and whether things have been falling in our favor?
• JOY
• PRAISE
• PRAYER
• FORGIVENESS
• LOVE
Over the next few posts I’m going to go through these topics briefly and give you an idea of both what it means to fulfill these roles as a Christian and potential challenges to living these out.
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