It\u2019s just day four of 2019 and maybe you\u2019re already feeling like quitting before you ever really get started on your New Year’s resolutions. Actually, I\u2019m eating one more bite of salted chocolate peppermint bark (yum), inwardly saying \u2013 \u201cJust a few more days and I\u2019ll turn over a new health leaf! But for now, too many other things to do and get done to focus on healthy eating!\u201d I really do plan to get back to my quiet times with the Lord in the mornings, but \u201cThis morning I need to shorten it up because I have a meeting to get to AND I want to help get my daughter\u2019s kitchen in her new home set up!\u201d I plan on being more active physically, but \u201cI\u2019ll get after it once I have this obligation and this responsibility finished!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And, so goes the aspirations and really good intentions. Each January I\u2019m hit with the recognition of how utterly human I am. I become an idealist, I set a goal (or ten), and then I slack off. become disappointed, and then I give up. Take my journalling, for example. I\u2019m on point for several days and then I go for days before I come back and stretch my brain to remember those days and what God and I did together. So far, I’m on point — but it is only Day #4!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s true that January can act as a clean slate. A fresh new start. A new beginning. Old things are passed away and behold, all things are brand spanking new! That\u2019s what we love about it, isn\u2019t it? We\u2019re all longing to be made new. But Jesus is teaching me that, with Him, each day \u2014 each moment \u2014 is a clean slate. We don\u2019t have to force ourselves into a rigid routine, but instead, start to recognize His gentle and loving rhythms of grace. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Honestly, this first-of-the-year push to turn over new leaves \u2013 just reminds me that I need to get to my yard and rake up all those leaves that are huddled on my front porch and bushes. I am certain that this year I will have intentional intimate times of fellowship with my Lord and He will reveal sweet nuggets of gold from His Word to me. I am also certain there will be days when there is so much on my mind that I won\u2019t give Him my best attention and I\u2019ll miss some of those nuggets. I also know I won\u2019t suddenly become an avid-never-missing-a-day of work-outs in the gym. I will not get all stressed out about when I\u2019ll get this or that done, but I will take each day and complete all I can in it. I will stop to pick up a call from a friend who needs prayer. Right. This. Minute. She doesn\u2019t need: \u201cI\u2019ll be praying for you!\u201d She needs: “Let’s pray right now and seek God for His wisdom.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tomorrow I\u2019ll wake up and my goal will be to spend quality time with my Lord. I might even get so caught up in my time with Him, I\u2019ll forget about my \u201cTo Do\u201d list that can be done later or even tomorrow. Oh. Wait. Tomorrow is Sunday and hip hip hooray \u2013 I\u2019ll not miss that opportunity to be with Him at church. I\u2019ll meet Him there when I see my friends. I\u2019ll meet Him there in the songs we sing. I\u2019ll meet Him there in partaking of His body and blood that gives me nourishment and strength. Maybe Monday \u2013 I will go back to the gym and, eventually, I\u2019ll become more absolute in the importance of my health and strength and energy. Eventually, I will be so full of God\u2019s Word in me, that I won\u2019t be able to contain it all and I MUST do more than my blogging to get it all out of me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tomorrow I\u2019ll wake up and my goal will be to spend quality time with my Lord. I might even get so caught up in my time with Him, I\u2019ll forget about my \u201cTo Do\u201d list that can be done later or even tomorrow. Oh. Wait. Tomorrow is Sunday and hip hip hooray \u2013 I\u2019ll not miss that opportunity to be with Him at church. I\u2019ll meet Him there when I see my friends. I\u2019ll meet Him there in the songs we sing. I\u2019ll meet Him there in partaking of His body and blood that gives me nourishment and strength. Maybe Monday \u2013 I will go back to the gym and, eventually, I\u2019ll become more absolute in the importance of my health and strength and energy. Eventually, I will be so full of God\u2019s Word in me, that I won\u2019t be able to contain it all and I MUST do more than my blogging to get it all out of me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Eventually, maybe tomorrow, I\u2019ll be that gal who is so on purpose that all those goals and aspirations I put out there for this year will be as rhythmic and routine in my life, as brushing my teeth. But, in the meantime, I\u2019ll thank God for His grace in sticking with my consistency AND inconsistency. Here\u2019s to His grace that bears with me. Here\u2019s to today \u2013 Day Four -and here\u2019s to tomorrow \u2013 Day Four of a year that promises to be blessed and highly favored because of God\u2019s amazing grace!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It\u2019s just day four of 2019 and maybe you\u2019re already feeling like quitting before you ever really get started on your New Year’s resolutions. Actually, I\u2019m eating one more bite of salted chocolate peppermint bark (yum), inwardly saying \u2013 \u201cJust a few more days and I\u2019ll turn over a new health leaf! But for now,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11695,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13521,16039,16041,16038,16040],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11694","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-amazing-grace","category-clean-slate","category-fresh-start","category-goal-setting","category-new-beginning"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11694","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11694"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11694\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11696,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11694\/revisions\/11696"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11695"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11694"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}