A New Year

So...it's the New Year. 2009 has come! And with it the expectation for better. Better! A better body, a better job, a better attitude...whatever the "better" might be for you...I bet you are hoping for a better year.

To me, New Year's Day is sort of a weird day. I've found myself in tears all day, emotional for several reasons. New's Years Day has always been sort of melancholy and somber for my family growing up. My father's dad passed away during this time many many years ago (I never was able to meet him), and so the day has never been one of great celebration for our family. Sure there was always some fireworks on New Year's Eve, but I always remember looking at my dad on that day, and wondering what it was like for him to find that his dad had gone to "lay down" and had never woken up. A heart attack.

And then, three years ago, my dear sweet grandmother (my mother's mom) passed away on December 29th and she was buried New Year's Eve. So, while it is fun to celebrate the end of a year and look forward to the next, there are painful reminders of those not with us any longer.
Yesterday, we spent another great day at the Ford's with Grant's family, and while we had a great time, there was also sadness to be spending our first New Year's Eve without his dad being there with us.

Even though the day is strange for me, I too, am wondering what I want to "better" in my life. There are so many things that are on my wish list, what I want to have, what I want to do, things I want to see...you know the drill. I find that I always seem to have such big dreams, and a day or two will pass, and I'll find myself falling back on my promises to myself, and rather than getting back up and trying again...I just sit down. I think to myself..."Well, if I cannot even stick with this for several days, how am I going to make it a year with my new resolution."
And I really do know the reason I am not consistent - and it's because these are MY wants for my life, rather than what God wants for me. We don't always have the instructions or the "how-to" book to carry out our dreams, so we just give up.

Now don't get me wrong, I am all about reading the directions before you try to do something. In fact, I roll my eyes at others who think they can do it without the instructions - because 9 times out of 10 it isn't done right, if it isn't by the rules. You always end up with all these extra parts that you think you don't REALLY need, but it isn't very long before the "thing you are putting together" falls apart. So directions are necessary. But they are best done in steps.

Those steps would be best called, STEPS OF FAITH.

I have a lot of dreams, but one really big one. And while I have had this dream for so long, I've not reached it, because I fail to believe that it can be done. I want all of my questions answered, the whole picture in view, before I will begin the first step. And to do what I want to do, (or whatever dream you want to accomplish), you have to have faith.

I have just finished reading a fascinating book, "Believe That You Can - Moving with Tenacity Toward the Dream God Has Given You," and it is a great motivator for accomplishing this dream God has called you to purpose. In it the author writes, "God will never give you the whole thing worked out ahead of time. He just tells you, 'Go. I will fill in the details.'" "The reason so many people are 'stuck' where they are and they never go anywhere is that whenever God has told them to do something, they have pulled out their long list of questions before responding in faith. ... If you wait until every question has been answered before you move, you'll never do anything."

Maybe you, also, have a dream that you want to accomplish. Maybe you are paralyzed by fear along with me that you will fail. And guess what...we are sure to fail, if we don't even try! So...I am hoping and praying that this year, I will work on the vision I feel God has for me. The dream that is so big, that I cannot accomplish on my own. God's dream for my life.
That is my resolution, that I will walk out on faith and God's provision alone. That whatever He has in store for me, that I will trust Him to bring it to pass.

I'll leave you today, with one last phrase from the book and hope that you will find as much inspiration by it as I had.

Imagine, you're called by God and hand-crafted for a specific purpose at precisely this time and in precisely this location! Wow! You came precut to fill a particular place that nobody else could fill. You were selected.
So, stop trying to be like somebody else! If you give up being who you are in order to become like them, you'll end up being somebody God doesn't need one more of. He made you in a precise way, for a precise purpose, and only you will do. Think about this: regardless of what you like or dislike about yourself, you must be OK because God chose you. Stop doubting yourself or competing with others. Nobody can take what God has reserved for you! Today you have a choice; either let others determine your worth, or let God.
In Genesis 1:31 we read, "Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good." Before you were born, God saw you. He knew the specific purpose you were designed to fulfill, so He provided you with the gifts you would need. Then, He looked at you and said, "Very good."

My prayer for all of you, is that you will listen as God makes His vision for your life known...and that you will step out in faith to accomplish what He has called you to do.


Dear Lord,
My dream is too big, and too out of my reach to accomplish it alone. I don't know how to even begin to make it happen, but I pray that if this is from You, then You will help me bring it to pass. Help me to obey without hesitation, and to live a life that says "Yes and Amen."
I love You, Amen.