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“Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants.”  Deuteronomy 32:3 (NIV)

A new year, a new outlook, a new commitment, a new goal – amazing how the flipping of the calendar to January allows us to clear out the old and stretch for the new.  It’s invigorating to navigate new territory and to anticipate the days ahead especially after the year we’ve had. We’d love to wave goodbye to isolation, COVID, restrictions and uncertainty.

Wonder if we miss out when we move forward without first flipping those days back?  Like everyone else, I look forward to getting a do over every New Year’s Day. However, if I fail to examine what I did with 2020, I might tend to repeat some of those days I’d rather forget.  So, before I start making that list or setting new goals; I consciously make an effort to reflect on 2020 and prayerfully consider four things:

• Did I bring glory to God or to myself?
• Am I the same person or am I more like Him?
• Was I a faithful steward of the gifts and abilities He entrusted to me?
• Who did I tell about Jesus?

The calendar may offer us 365 days a year, but only God knows the potential to transform our ordinary life into extraordinary moments that glorify Him. Growth and intimacy with God requires discipline and intentionality.  It requires listening to His voice, applying His principles and stepping outside our comfort zone to pursue a deeper personal walk with our God.  It  requires a submissive and surrendered heart that longs to reflect His ways versus our own.

None of us could have predicted what this past year would birth – we simply didn’t have a clue.  However, I’m pray we know God more intimately.  Praying we value and invest in the lives God brings into our path.  Praying we recognize the sweetness of seeing faces and extending hugs. Praying we cherish His peace, comfort and strength for those moments when uncertainty overwhelmed us.

Where will you be at the end of 2021?  It all begins with the choices we make after the clock strikes midnight.

Join me in grabbing a quiet spot sweet friends and let’s reflect on all God has done. In spite of our disappointments or challenges, we will be in awe of His power and love

“Father, give us the courage to honestly examine our hearts and to embrace Your grace as we begin a new year.”

For His Glory

Janet Martin
TRBC Women’s Life