I wrote this 2 days before New Year's Day 2012.
This is the time of year to shake off the post-Christmas blues and start
looking toward a fresh start. I love change and I love a new
beginning. Seems like this is a season of new beginnings for this Burtis
family. This morning, early before any one in the house was stirring, I
sat in front of a big bay window in my living room with a hot cup of Starbucks
Christmas blend and a pen in hand, asking God to tell me what He'd like my new
year's pursuits to be.
I love New Year's goal setting. This is
when I start irritating my husband and kids as I encourage them to set goals
for the new year too. (apparently, not everyone is a goal setter - who knew?)
Still, I pound away: Let's strive toward something new! Let's get rid of
old habits. Let's challenge ourselves to do something hard. I'm sure
you've heard the old saying "if you aim for nothing, you'll hit it every
time." That is not acceptable. I want to be different and there's no
better time of year to put hand to the plow and try to make it happen. I'm not
actually advocating self-improvement, but rather I find it's best to ask God
what area He would like to focus on regarding my sanctification and spiritual
growth and then rely on the Holy Spirit to lead the way.
Admittedly, I'm reluctant to stop reading my
Advent devotionals (trying to hold on to Christmas as long as possible) - still
listening for God to speak through this "most wonderful time of the
year". I'm slowly finishing up "This Christmas Night" by
Billy and Ruth Graham. I'm stunned and delighted at what I read today and
feel it is a direct answer to my inviting God to write my New Year's Goals
list. Maybe it will speak to you too.
My Revised Christmas List by Ruth Graham
Let me offer for our consideration a revised wish
list -
This New Years, I am giving my parents
more loving appreciation for the years of time and effort - yes, and money -
that they invested in me, so much of which I took for granted.
To my neighbors - nice or not -
I will give thoughtful consideration. I will be slow to gossip, quick to
sympathize, ready to help - praying all the while that God will give them the
necessary patience to live next to me.
To those who serve me in restaurants or
shops - grumpy or obliging, cold or curt or otherwise, I will be
courteous, friendly, interested, remembering: If I worked so long for so
little, if my back ached and my feet hurt, and if when I got home I still had
supper to prepare, I too would be grumpy, cold or curt or otherwise.
To all I meet - remembering
that each carries burdens known only to himself, and some too big to cope with
- I will say the kind things I want (but hesitate) to say. I will tell
them the nice things I've heard about them. I will express my
appreciation warmly. If there's nothing nice to say - I'll do more than
keep my mouth shut sweetly, I'll find something nice to say.
To my husband - remembering how
much he has to put up with and for how long - I will give a frank, honest
reappraisal of myself. I will remember that happy marriages don't just
happen. They are the result of good hard work. Then I will take my
Bible and reread those timeworn, ageless passages that speak of love and
marriage and the responsibilities and privileges of wives. Sensible,
delightful, down-to-earth passages, which if any woman would follow would make
her husband the happiest, most contented man on earth.
To my children - this new
year I will be more articulate in my love and appreciation of them as
persons. If I cannot give them a perfect mother I can at least give them
more of the one they've got - and make that one more loving. I will be
available, knowing that a mother needs, like God, to be "a very present
help in trouble." I will take time to listen, time to play.
Time to counsel and encourage. In a world of confusion and uncertainties,
I will give them the eternal truths of the Word of God. I will try to
help them cast their anchor on the goodness and mercy of God. (end of excerpt)
To this list I would like to add - to God
through my prayers - I will redirect my motives. Instead of
daily seeking God to be my vending machine in the sky, expecting Him to gladly
grant every request, I will pray for His glory to be revealed and obvious in
every area of my life. For His will to be done and that His purposes will
be at the heart of each thing I ask for, resisting the natural urge toward
self-gratifying prayers. That others will see His glory and presence in
my responses to life's challenges and blessings.
This is my newly adopted New Year's Goals
list. I will print it and read it regularly. And through this type
of giving, grows the giver I pray. I want to be different in 2012.
Reminds me of a verse I've loved so much in 2011
- God speaking in Isaiah 48 "Remember not the former things, nor consider
the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing: now it springs forth, do
you not perceive it?" Or more pointedly, do you not want it?
