HELLO 2020!

 I am not typically a resolution girl.  Too many failures in my 53 years I guess.  But there is something that I love about buttoning up a year and opening the GIFT of a brand new one.  I love the moments of looking back and reflecting….being thankful, letting things go, celebrating, grieving.  And then I love the idea of a new beginning!  A chance to start fresh and improve.  A year is like a present from God that you get to open at midnight tonight!  It is not something I earned or something that I am owed, but it is a gift in every sense of the word.  And each year those gifts become even more precious, because I know that they will not keep coming forever (on earth, anyway).

As I have been thinking about an area of my life I want to ‘step up my game’ in 2020, the thing that keeps coming to my mind is doing a better job of loving people.  The 2 most important things to do in this life are to love God and love people.  And so I want to do both of those things really, really well!

To make it more concrete, I am breaking it down into 3 areas….

1. FAMILY.  Over the last decade there have been many significant changes in my family.  My girls are now adults, Scott and I are now empty nesters, my parents have moved into a stage where they need a lot of care and attention.  Each of these things have required a large shift in the way I respond and interact with each of these people.  And, I don’t think I have always done a great job.  I sometimes get lazy and choose to do something mind numbing, rather than engaging with those closest to me.  I sometimes say things to my girls that was more appropriate when I was parenting them as teenagers, rather than the adults that they are.  In general, I don’t speak words of love or encouragement or celebration to those who are the most important to me.  And that needs to change.

2. FRIENDS.  I want be the best friend that I can possibly be.  I want my friends to know that I am there for them and I am ready to serve them.  I want to get better at seeing their needs and their hurts and then doing something about it.  I want to plan events rather than waiting to be invited.  I want to send more cards, give more thoughtful gifts.  I don’t want a single one of them to wonder if I love them.

3. RANDOM TRAVELERS.  These are the people who move in and out of my path everyday.  They are at the grocery store, serving me lunch at a restaurant, in the houses on my street, in the lobby at church.  For a long time, I have labeled myself as an introvert and that has become my excuse.  Random conversations are hard and so I just don’t do them.  This year I want to really SEE these people and I want to make sure they see me and that I am interested in them.  That I truly care about them.  Hopefully that is different than most of the world and when given a chance, I can point that difference to God.

Man….as I read back though this, it sounds hard!  Do I really want to commit to this?  Since I know the way to love God, is to love His people, my answer is YES.  I also know that the ONLY way I am going to do this, is with His help.  So I am going to add one more thing….which is to pray for all of these people and to ask God to guide me to make the changes.  I’m not calling this a resolution since that means 10 pounds off in January and 12 back on by April.  LOL.  But as I open the ‘gift’ of another year tonight, I am committing to a year of radically loving people.