Happy New Year!
Resolutions? I like to think of them more as goals. I've been a little cynical from time to time about New Year's resolutions-- after all, what makes this day any more special than any other? Is there any magic that makes your resolutions come true on this day? No, but it's as good a time as any to reflect, remember, evaluate, give thanks, and refocus for the next year.
There's a Counting Crows song that says, "It's been a long December, and there's reason to believe that maybe this year will be better than the last. I can't remember all the times I tried to tell myself to hold on to these moments as they pass..." I love that song. There's something wistful and a little heartbreaking about it (as with many of their songs), but I think it also touches on an important duality in life. We spend our lives watching the moments pass, trying to hold on, but also looking to the future for hope and newness and excitement.
2008, like every year, has held its share of laughter and tears. If I had to choose a few hard lessons I've been learning, at the top of the list would be mortality and the frailness of life, and the value of humility and patience. It's been a year of a lot of death and disease around me, a year of preparing for goodbyes and realizing how fleeting the seasons of life are. And, as a committed year of singleness, it's been a year of looking at the less-pretty patterns in my life and learning a little bit about not rushing headfirst into everything that comes my way. I've learned something about holding the people I love with open hands, but with that has come the lesson of loving them well while they're in my life.
2009 promises to be a year of change. I'll graduate from college in May, most likely move to a new city in June, and hopefully start a new job in August or September. New people, new church, new home, new job, new challenges, new opportunities. Same self and same God, though. If I've learned anything this year, it's been that God and I are the only ones who will always be in my life, so it's worth getting to know both of us pretty well.
As for goals, in 2009 I'd like to...
...get my bachelor's degree.
...run a 5K.
...run a 10K.
...find and invest in a new church.
...get a job.
...become a "regular" at a local cafe.
...become a financial supporter of Jonah Ministries (Trout Lake) and Transformacion (Costa Rica).
...invest in new friendships and deepen old ones.
...pray with faith and without censorship.
There's a Counting Crows song that says, "It's been a long December, and there's reason to believe that maybe this year will be better than the last. I can't remember all the times I tried to tell myself to hold on to these moments as they pass..." I love that song. There's something wistful and a little heartbreaking about it (as with many of their songs), but I think it also touches on an important duality in life. We spend our lives watching the moments pass, trying to hold on, but also looking to the future for hope and newness and excitement.
2008, like every year, has held its share of laughter and tears. If I had to choose a few hard lessons I've been learning, at the top of the list would be mortality and the frailness of life, and the value of humility and patience. It's been a year of a lot of death and disease around me, a year of preparing for goodbyes and realizing how fleeting the seasons of life are. And, as a committed year of singleness, it's been a year of looking at the less-pretty patterns in my life and learning a little bit about not rushing headfirst into everything that comes my way. I've learned something about holding the people I love with open hands, but with that has come the lesson of loving them well while they're in my life.
2009 promises to be a year of change. I'll graduate from college in May, most likely move to a new city in June, and hopefully start a new job in August or September. New people, new church, new home, new job, new challenges, new opportunities. Same self and same God, though. If I've learned anything this year, it's been that God and I are the only ones who will always be in my life, so it's worth getting to know both of us pretty well.
As for goals, in 2009 I'd like to...
...get my bachelor's degree.
...run a 5K.
...run a 10K.
...find and invest in a new church.
...get a job.
...become a "regular" at a local cafe.
...become a financial supporter of Jonah Ministries (Trout Lake) and Transformacion (Costa Rica).
...invest in new friendships and deepen old ones.
...pray with faith and without censorship.