Bring it on!

Ringing in the New Year... Sounds so official and elegant, like one could simply ring a bell and magically erase the previous year to start afresh. With the tolling we would wipe away the mistakes of our past annuals and be granted a consequence free new deal with which to begin again. Unsullied, pristine, unmarred by our selfishness and poor judgement. Oh, if only it were so!

Never gunna happen... But I can go back, take an honest poke at what I remember about last year (yes, I said what I remembered), and plant new, fresh, wonderful ideas firmly into the landscape of this coming year. Don't get me wrong, I am not a resolution type of gal. If I make a resolution, one thing is certain - I will promptly fail at keeping it, beat myself up for failing at it once again, and then eat something I shouldn't while washing it down with far too much wine. Ahem... Now that you know my stance on New Year's Resolutions, it should all be very clear.

No, what I am talking about (because I tend to explain waaay too much what I am NOT talking about), is this:

* I WILL write more out here in my lovely place. I know I said this last year too. And I actually did it. I wrote more than I did the year before. You may not have known it, because I don't post everything I write, but I did... really... Don't judge me. I will stop requiring myself to carve out time and I will simply make time. I will stop requiring a clean house, a perfect marriage, a groomed puppy and I will just plop my butt in my chair out here to write. I have to start thinking of this as less of a "treat" and more of an act of obedience. God didn't ask me to use this talent only when I had completed some chore list. He asked me to write...

* I WILL investigate more ways to publish my work. No matter how scary that is and how much I fear rejection, I will remember that God has not allowed one word He wanted out there to be rejected. In fact, everything I have submitted for publication, has been - in fact - published. Pretty freaking amazing!

* I WILL nurture the friendships I have while still pursuing others in the manner of a new kid at school. Being social is a skill, I refuse to allow it to wane with my waistline! I don't care if it causes my kids to walk in front of me three or four strides, I will stop the uniformed service-folk and thank them for their service to our country, I will talk to the cute babies and new mothers in line at the grocery and I will listen when God asks me to encourage someone I don't know. Those moments are golden and have always given me joy.

* I WILL trust that no matter what cliff looms, what imbecile is spouting cockamamie BS or what hay prices do, that God will care for my family as he does every sparrow I see pecking at seemingly nothing on my gravel driveway. If God is going to make sure those sparrows have a meal in their tiny little tummies, I know He has my back.

*I WILL continue my self-imposed moratorium on news channels, talking heads and grinning reporters of the macabre. Call me naive, but I believe that we are healthier when we don't know everything there is to know about the latest tragic killing of babies. I understand the need for compassion, but honestly, I don't have to know the gory details to wind up in a ball on the bathroom floor, too paralyzed with terror to walk out my front door.

* I WILL use social media as just that: a means to be social! I do not want to read about how incredibly frustrated you are politically, I don't want to see the latest burnt up puppy or half dead baby on a gurney. I want to know what you did last weekend that was fun, uplifting, changed your outlook on life in some way or maybe just where you had the best martini you ever tasted! I appreciate that you are impassioned about many things, but let's be wise about the over-share. And while those snarky pictures and sayings are great once in a while, can you please let us know you are still a human being who can actually type on a keyboard? Just sayin'.

* In general, in 2013 I WILL laugh more, hug more, invite the neighbors over more and attempt to look at my life through a lens less focused on me and more focused on what God might have to say about it. He was asleep in the bottom of the boat while the Sea of Galilee churned about violently and the disciples had to actually wake Him up! Think about that a moment... He really is trying to tell us that what we see around us doesn't have Him worried - Why are we? Trusting God with all I have is the hardest and yet most rewarding thing I can ever get better at. It is worthy of my time and then some.

Be blessed! It's gonna be a spectacular year! (Again...)

On Floating (Wherein All Feet Are NOT Firmly On the Ground)

I feel lighter today. I can't always explain it when this sensation hits me, but it is one of absolute freedom. The picture says it all... At one point in a horse's stride, there are no feet on the ground, everything is airborne and they float, if only for a moment. I am in that instant in time today and it is glorious!

I do too much. It is no one's fault but my own and I am coming to grips with it, day by middle-aged day. I realize that if I am to do the things God is asking of me, I have got to let go of the things He has not called me to. I have to allow myself the freedom to say, "Someone else will do this better." It is excruciating for me to admit. It is a hallmark of mine to do LOTS of stuff... I admit I have been doing much of it for all the wrong reasons. I have craved accolade, acceptance and awards. The irony is, I can never gain those things because I am horribly overbooked and the end result suffers for it! Nothing gets done well when I try to do everything...

I am reluctantly trusting that God is at the root of my next steps. It hasn't been easy. I am still struggling with the desire to take it all back and say, "It's ok... I'll do it. It really isn't as bad as I thought..." Why do I do that? Is it shame at feeling like I failed? Is it pride that I think no one can really do my job as good as I can? Is it the insanity of exhaustion? Or is it the Enemy hoping I will stay mired in my routines and not step out to do the things that God is asking of me? I shudder to think I will succumb to any of it, for any reason.

The difficulty lies in asking another for help, primarily because I am ashamed at the mess I have created. I have procrastinated and delayed and done a half-assed job. Now things are in a shambles and I need help to clean it up. To allow someone into my mess, even if it is only a perception of mess, is to admit that I am a failure. It is almost unbearable. In my denial, not long ago I caught myself lecturing a friend on their inability to allow others to help them... Hmmm. I had to step aside to dodge the lightening bolt. I will call that an epiphany!

When I cannot possibly see another way out, I can't let my "but" get in the way. If I look up and then look around, I may just find someone in the vicinity with their hand up hoping I will pick them to be on my team. I can't be so prideful to think only I can handle it, only I should be involved, it is my mess and no one should have to deal with it but me. The Enemy wants me to think that way. He's desperately hoping I won't ask for help. After all, it is so much easier to defeat just one weakened Christian than a team of them working together for the glory of God!

Take a moment, look up, then look around. Is there someone who wants to help you in your trial? Who are you to deny them their gift to you? After all, that gift is coming directly from the hands of God who wants more for you! Let go, get light and float right into His purpose for your life!

Photograph courtesy of the talented Eli Paulsen. Contact me for more information on her work.

A Message from Him to You

Be kind to My friend today. She needs your encouragement, not your criticism. She's feeling unworthy and unwanted. Be nice to her as only you can. Tell her that I love her. I know you have said it all before... Tell her again anyway.

Love My friend today. Show her how special she is and how I have given her gifts to cheer her and feed her soul. Give her permission right now to use those gifts, even though she has so much to do and lots of places to be. Tell her to spend time on her, just for Me.

Encourage My friend today. Show her my wonders and my works to lift her spirit and allow her heart to breath. Tell her I have all the problems circling her brain already figured out and at the right time I will provide the solutions. Remind her of all the times that I have done that in the past.

Pray with My friend today. Remind her that I am only a whisper away. Tell her again that I am always listening for the sounds of my people. It is My greatest joy to hear her call out to Me so that I may answer. She is no burden to Me but a great delight to My heart. Tell her I sit waiting in the Living Room of her soul to commune with her and comfort her.

Be kind to My friend today. She is loved beyond measure and treasured as My child. Be very kind to My friend, because My friend is you.