Mikki's Blog - Living in the Grace and Love of God » New Year’s Resolutions

The Day My Clothes Spoke to Me

Mikki — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 14:06:38 +0000

A new year. A new opportunity. A new day. A new beginning. Ah, the inspiration of it!

I spent part of New Year’s Eve cleaning out my clothes’ closet. I took everything out of my closet and laid the stuff in stacks around my room. Then I began. Toss. Keep. Give away. Store in a different place. Reorganize. Somehow the arrival of the New Year beckoned me to start over again. To think in new ways. To look for new strategies.

Magazine articles about decluttering and organization called to me.

I was in a ruthless mood. If I didn’t love it, it went no matter how much I wondered if it might come back into style in a year or if it might fit me better later.

The process became spiritual.

I picked up a blouse. I thought of my mother and her changing memory. The blouse represented a shopping trip we’d had. I felt saddened and a deeper realization of my time with her changing as she ages.

A dress touched my memory of days gone by and folks I love who I don’t really see anymore. Tears filled my eyes as I allowed the memory to fill my heart.

Another outfit took me back to a season of my life. Ah, those were good days.

The blouse I would wear for my anniversary this week. More smiles.

Ah, there was that item that needs hemming and one that needs a button.

And those two little dresses I bought for my granddaughter for Spring. I smiled as I thought of her.

Almost like the year in review except it went much further.

My emotions ranged from gratitude to delight to satisfaction to joy to melancholy to sorrow to ambivalence to regret.

I was both glad I could get back into those pants I love and yet frustrated that I had a lot of work to do in order to be able wear that cute skirt.

The finished project gave me satisfaction. My life would be simpler. More organized. Less stressful.

And the project reminded me of how I must evaluate my life periodically and the usefulness of the things that fill it. I posed these questions to myself and now, I pose them to you:

What is really important in your life?

What is being ignored? What needs repair?

What needs to go to make room for the things that “fit” today?

What needs to be given new priority?

What needs to be grieved? Appreciated? Planned for?

The New Year is a gift. God promises us that His heart for us is to give us future and hope. So allow His Spirit to do the work inside you that will prepare you for the new day. Value the old things that are foundational and drink in the new knowing that God’s plans for you are good. A new year. A new day. A new beginning.

Ecclesiastes 3:1, 3:6

To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:
…A time to gain, And a time to lose;
A time to keep,
And a time to throw away;

The Day My Clothes Spoke to Me

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Remember, Reflect, Refocus, Resolve: Preparing for the New Year

Mikki — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 16:29:49 +0000

My heart is filled with a quiet anticipation and traces of ambivalence. Another year is ending; a new one beginning. The very passage into a new year carries an innate sense of need to evaluate oneself. This self-evaluation, if done in truth, brings one face to face with the depths of one’s own depravity and the heights of one’s own glory for both are true of the human heart and life.

The end of the year beckons us to remember. What have we done well this year? Where have we gained ground? Have we grown spiritually, emotionally, and mentally? Where have we failed? Missed the mark? Wasted the treasure of life?

True reflection on one’s life can be painful, especially when we must admit that we didn’t keep any of those 2011 New Year’s Resolutions! Yet the purpose of our reflection is to refocus not to condemn.

How can we see and hear more clearly what God is saying to us at the end of a year?

While typical New Year’s Resolutions are things like spend more time with my family, organize more, lose weight, spend less money, etc., the commonality seems to be this need to refocus our lives.

How do we refocus our lives?

Intentional introspection requires a quiet spirit submitting to the voice of God who will lead us to remember, reflect, refocus, and resolve.

So why do we so often fail at these ‘resolutions’? I purpose that we either failed to hear God’s voice to begin with or perhaps even more painful to admit is that we failed to heed His voice after we did hear.

When we see the burning bush, we must value it enough to turn aside, take off our shoes, and pay attention! And when we hear the still, small voice, we must cherish His quiet revelations and respond by giving our heart to follow that voice.

Will you take time to quiet your heart and soul and listen?

Will you heed the gentle voice of God’s Spirit who always leads us into truth?

Remember, Reflect, Refocus, Resolve: Preparing for the New Year

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Good Morning 2010

Mikki — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 12:55:42 +0000

2009 is gone, and I have awakened unto 2010. I stop this morning to reflect on 2009 and look forward to 2010. As a matter of accountability, I’ve already looked back at the goals I set for 2009 to see how I did in regard to them. I am pleased. 2009 was a year of continued change for me. Certainly I didn’t score 100% but in my blog, Welcoming 2009, I notice that I gave myself permission to resolve to resolve imperfectly! So I did not fail.

I often use Proverbs 24:16 when I teach about the Christian life. This verse tells us that even though a righteous person may fall seven times, they shall rise again. It then goes on to contrast the righteous person’s response to failure with the wicked person’s response to failure and states that the wicked are overcome by their failure and calamity. I love to use this verse to teach believers that even though we may fall and stumble, the ongoing direction of our life should be toward godliness. I often draw a graph which illustrates the highs and lows of the Christian life.

So with a backwards glance at 2009, I look now to 2010. What are my goals for this year? I think of the old adage which says, “If you aim at nothing, you are sure to hit it.”

So here is my aim:

1. To know myself more deeply, because in knowing my own heart I gain the ability to know God and others in real ways

2. To pursue a deeper understanding of God’s grace

3. To face my shortcomings and failures truthfully with a willingness to change

4. To have a goal of progress, instead of perfection

5. To give love and support to others and receive the love and support of others

6. To recognize things that keep me from growing, such as denial and fear, and then move through and beyond them

7. To use the influence I have on others in ways that lead them into a deeper relationship with God and others

8. To be increasingly less religious and more Christ-like

9. To continue to break the power of the past

10.To live within my limits

11.To learn to easily identify what I am feeling inside

12.To allow Christ to change me

13.To resolve conflict in clear, direct, and respectful ways

14.To admit when I am wrong and ask for forgiveness

15.To be able to enter others’ worlds and feelings, connecting deeply with them

16.To truly listen when others speak and sincerely try to hear their heart

17.To love well, beginning with loving myself as Christ taught

18.To read and receive from others who are life-giving

19.To enjoy myself

Well, maybe that list is a little long, but it is a true reflection of my heart and is a reflection of what I learned in 2009.

Journey on my fellow pilgrim! 2010 awaits us.

Good Morning 2010

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