It’s a new year. I avoid “new years” resolutions because I think that if something is worth changing, it’s worth changing now and not waiting for a new year for a new commitment. Don’t get me wrong, I procrastinate with the best of them, and my June 23rd resolutions often slip and fade just like the stereotypical January 1 promises to hit the gym everyday.
I’m not anti-resolution. Not at all. But what is so special about January 1? All that date really indicates is some arbitrary position of the earth in its orbit around the sun. Personally, I think it would have made more sense to back it up 10 days or so and start the new year on the winter solstice, but I wasn’t there when they made the decision.
What I can say, though, is sometime in early January 2018, things started to change for us. On one hand I found myself out of work for the first time in a dozen years. A contract ended and I didn’t have a new one to replace it. I ended up being out of work for 2.5 months. It was hard.
On the other hand, though, at that same time Kelly and I stepped out into something new. A new level of commitment and service and giving. A new dedication to make sure that our promises did not downgrade to simply “good intentions”.
It’s so weird how some things were so bad at the same time other things were becoming so good. The more we dug in and continually renewed our resolve toward something other than work, the more good cascading over us. Doors opened. Relationships solidified. Confidence grew. Practices became habits. Habits became a way of life. Generosity became our culture. My load was heavier than ever, but my stress was as low as it had ever been.
If I made a list of my favorite years, 2016 will always be near the top because of the amazing experiences we had while my family of four traveled for a year. But who would have thought that a year where I was unemployed for the first 20% of the year would be right there with 2016? 2018 was a hard year for sure. The waters were pouring over us. We just made a resolution to be soaking in the flow of joy and grace instead of drowning in the flood of stress and fear.
The water continued to rise, and the boat floated on the water high above the earth.
(Note: This post is part of a writing challenge I’ve started for the month of January. Today’s writing prompt was “Cascade”.)
Thank you, Scotty. I look forward to reading more and more of your testimony of God’s work in your life!