I find myself a few days behind writing a New Year’s post, but to be honest, I am glad about it. My thoughts and dreams and aspirations for this year, my resolve concerning what I wish to accomplish…it’s all so very different from years past…as if my die-hard, list-making, controlling, OCD, check-off-all-the-boxes self has moved over and made room for agents of real change: grace, self-control, humility, service, love.
So my inaugural post of 2013 is a Sabbath Reflections post. It is Sunday morning. And though I give myself a hearty pat on the back for flossing my teeth and making my bed this morning (items straight off The List, don’t you know), on this first Sunday of a new year I seek something deeper. To worship intentionally…to love deeply…to serve sacrificially…to open my eyes to the beauty and wonder around me every day.
You see, I have worked hard to reach goals in the past (paying off debt, losing 40 pounds, being better prepared for a school year, waking up early each morning) only to find my heart still in the lurch, my patience still wearing thin, and my soul still parched. Not that goal-setting and accomplishment should ever be looked upon as a bad thing…by no means! But I think I finally grasp, just a little teensy bit after all these years, why it’s not about checklists and schedules and ducks in a row. Because even if, by some miracle, all the boxes were checked and every task completed on time and those ducks were perfectly aligned…it would not satisfy the deepest longings in me. This thirst for perfection cannot be sated this side of eternity.
So where does that leave me? Tasks still await my attention…and a life well-lived does require planning and care.
But these last few days I find my heart warmed by grace, drawn to Beauty, guarded by faith, encouraged by love…and it makes me want to press on. To work a little harder. Another meal served, another shirt ironed, another pile of dishes washed. Not as a task to check off a list. Do you know why? Because it will just have to be done again tomorrow. It will never be “done”…but if such acts of work and service become a part of the Art of Life, done with grace from a heart overflowing with thanks to the One who served us, sacrificed for us, loved us when we were unlovable…then maybe they become easier. Maybe they fill us with joy and delight rather than dread and exhaustion. Maybe this is a year where true change can occur!
I love your post! I felt very similarly about goals, etc. this year. In fact, I kind of felt that rather than choose “a word” for the year, I should wait til the end of the year and see what “word” God had chosen for me. That’s definitely how it worked last year — I had goals and instead God chose a theme for my year which became evident at the end of the year and it was “grace”. I think I’m just going to wait and see what He has for this year! Not to say I didn’t write down goals — but they were not so much “check-offs” as they were lessons I learned last year that I think I can take into the coming year and further deepen them. Life will be interesting I’m sure! But I’m anxious to see what lessons God wants to teach this year (as hard as some of them may be…..) Happy New Year to all of you!
Beautifully written!
He wants us to yearn for more of Him, less of us. To love and serve and iron and wash out of our love for Him.
Thanks
Deanna
A beautifully expressed reflection. And there will be real change everyday of your life, whether you see it or not, if you keep that good attitude.
Your mother said that this was a beautifully written post and she is so right. It’s an amazing post getting right to the heart of things very quickly. Thank you for thinking it through and writing it down. This was a lightbulb moment for me as they say.
Lovely post. While God knows we need to be about our everyday like Martha, He desires us to sit at His feet like Mary.
I’m so glad your mother directed us to your post. Your words beautifully describe the grace bubble I felt myself in before Christmas as all the events were planned for family coming home. I felt like I was in a slow waltz with God and I was enjoying the moment of doing rather than the goal of finishing. That is what I want to live in more often. I can’t manufacture it but the Holy Spirit can work it down deeper into my soul bit by bit. Thank you for a beautiful post. I am sharing it with my Bible Study this week as we kick off the new year. I will also tweet it if this old lady can figure it out so my two followers might see it
Love this. I too am here by direction of your mother, and I first visited due to your mom’s sweet suggestion, but I remain due to your heart. It is evident that your faith, your family, and your home are your priorities and that makes me smile – another kindred spirit.
Blessings to you and yours this year as your pursue God’s presence and live by His grace.
In His grace,
Michelle