Happy New Year!!

I hope that this finds you all doing well and recuperating from the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. December is always such a hectic month and this one was no exception for us. My hubby and I had a nasty virus that knocked us both down for a week, there was his birthday in the midst of that, then came Christmas, and all that comes along with that, my birthday, and now here we are at the start of 2020! Whew! The first thing that Josh said to me this morning was, “Babe, we made it.” I have to agree that there was a part of me that let out a sigh of relief once I saw the clock change to midnight last night. We made it. I am so ready to leave last year behind. Not the lessons that were learned-they will be coming with me and I will continue building on them, but I am looking ahead to 2020 with much hope and anticipation for what God has in store for us for this year.

I know that it is customary to make some resolutions for the new year, but I always feel that when I do that, I tend to be hard on myself when I fail or make mistakes, and this leads to me eventually just giving up. The past few years, I’ve tried to write out goals for the new year, things I would like to accomplish, or work towards. I feel like doing it that way has helped me to focus on the important things and have goals to look ahead to.

I love how Philippians 3:12-15 talks about this in The Passion Translation. “I admit that I haven’t yet acquired the absolute fullness that I’m pursuing, but I run with passion into his abundance so that I may reach the purpose that Jesus Christ has called me to fulfill and wants me to discover.  I don’t depend on my own strength to accomplish this; however I do have one compelling focus: I forget all of the past as I fasten my heart to the future instead. I run straight for the divine invitation of reaching the heavenly goal and gaining the victory-prize through the anointing of Jesus.”

I know that I for sure have not acquired the absolute fullness that I’m pursuing-far from it! But I WANT to run with passion into into His abundance this new year to reach the purpose that Jesus has called me to fulfill and that He wants me to discover. I don’t want to depend on my own strength. I want to forget the past and fasten my heart to the future instead. Running straight for that heavenly goal to gain the victory prize through Jesus!! This is the way that I am heading into this new year….running for Jesus. Pressing on toward the goal. Keeping my eyes on the prize-HIS prize that He has for me.

Let me encourage you all in this. Seek after God. He IS faithful. Last year may have been a bad year, a frustrating year, a year of many ups and downs, full of pain or illnesses, maybe some failures and disappointments, but WE ALL MADE IT! We are all here to live another day. Let’s step into this year and believe this verse that says, “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6. God WILL continue working in you, if you allow Him to. Don’t be afraid to open up your hearts. Let God in, even to the hidden places that you don’t want anyone else to see. He knows you inside and out and He loves you so much more than you will ever know or can imagine. Trust me. With all that I have gone through this past year, He has continued revealing Himself to me as I continue to seek Him and He pours out His love in me beyond what I can explain. Over and over again. I know He will do the same for you.

Happy New Year, friends! I am praying that this will be a year of great and abundant blessings in your lives, and that through it all, God will reveal Himself in a new and personal way to you. Thank you for going on this journey with me!