Here we are again. Another year ending and a new year just around the corner. Good riddance to the old year and Happy New Year’s to the future. Right? I find it crazy how the world keeps turning despite all that we go through in our little pockets of the world. This constant movement is something that never changes. The world keeps spinning, bringing us a new year every 365 days, and we continue moving forward in anticipation that a new year will bring us more time, more money, more self-discipline, more, more, more.
I will be the first to admit that I do not make New Year’s resolutions. I don’t like to “fail” the new year before we’ve even begun. 2020 began and I made what I felt were three worthwhile resolutions (you can read about them here). And I still think they are good resolutions for 2021 as well.
But…
As I was reflecting this Advent season, there is a verse in Luke that gets shuffled to the side if you read too quickly. Just a tiny reminder that gets swept under the bigger picture of the story. But this verse can help us refocus and start 2021 with a content heart.
And it’s this:
“But Mary was treasuring up all these things in her heart and meditating on them.”
Luke 2:19
Treasuring up and meditating. Appreciating and wondering. Preserving and contemplating.
Gathering all the gifts Ann Voskamp style and bringing them out one by one. Relishing in the way God loves us by admiring these gifts, giving thanks for them, and putting them back in our hearts to fill our hearts with love and joy for the next valley.
I can only imagine that Mary wondered what God was up to as she traveled with her husband, on donkey, close to the end of her pregnancy, across the country. She would probably be the first to admit that God’s “plans” for her life seemed a little far-fetched.
But she made it. Jesus was born. And motherhood took over. Staring blissfully into her newborn’s eyes, holding his little hand, she began a good work in her own heart. Cherishing each little moment given and meditating on how each event has brought her closer to God.
She may have considered how each event had seemed impossible but made possible through her faith in what God promised her.
Or she reflected on how her life was created for a purpose. And she immediately saw the fruit of following God to establish her purpose—to bring our Messiah into the world and to raise him in a loving home.
We don’t know exactly what was going through Mary’s mind. But Luke tells us she was creating a treasure chest of beloved moments in her heart. Hopefully, to reexamine again and again when events in her life seemed like utter confusion.
I want to do exactly this for New Year’s. Treasure up and meditate on God’s promises, on the gifts he has placed in my life.
My husband says I am the most present person he knows. I don’t know if it’s a gift I have or just that I like to stay in the moment for so long that I don’t want to move forward (read about my dilemma with time here). I think I settle into moments well, but 2020 has caused me to start wishing for the future. Wishing for more trips, more hang out time with friends, more togetherness. Just more. And so I have rushed forward in eager anticipation of what a COVID vaccine and 2021 will bring.
New Year’s is a time to press pause and reflect on the year behind and before you. Not to rush into (you can fill in the blank…for me it’s baby preparing mode–aka freak out while anticipating his due date which is a moot point), but to find each moment and hold it, looking at the gift that it is. And then placing each tiny moment directly in my heart to treasure up.
God gives so much, and I don’t want to take any of the precious moments he gives for granted. Let’s pause and reflect and treasure each gift given as we celebrate New Year’s.
So, if you’re like me, struggling to find a New Year’s resolution, really not wanting to make one, but feeling like you need to tell people you’re focusing on something—you can take mine. I don’t mind 😉
Let us start 2021 differently…may it begin slowly. Let’s not rush forward in impatience. With coffee splashing over the sides of our cup, spilling onto the floor, greedy to receive the first gifts we think we deserve after 2020. Quickly becoming discouraged because we’ve either put too much emphasis on the new year or we regret the year we had.
Let’s ease into the new year, taking all of the good from 2020 and meditating on what God has done for us and through us. Yes, the year has been tough, but there are gifts to be had. Wonderful, made just for us gifts that God wants to place on our hearts to give us strength and courage for the new year.
Will you take that challenge with me? To focus on the positive as we enter a new year? To forgive the negative and move forward in faith? I hope you will, and I look forward to writing for you in the new year.
Happy New Year’s, friend!
Prayer
Dear God, 2020 has been a year like no other. There has been hurt and pain. A year of fear and turmoil. Losses of all kinds. And yet, when we know you, Lord, we know that you are always good. This virus is not good, but there are good things that have come from it. We thank you for the gifts you have given amidst the confusion of 2020. Even if they are so small, we have to really search for them.
We thank you for the quiet that came with 2020, for the demand to slow down and listen. To really dive into a peaceful life. Lord, we pray for those who are continuing to hurt. We pray that you would wrap your arms around them and give them hope and a future. We ask you to be their shepherd during this time and lovingly bring them back to you as we celebrate new year’s. Lord, thank you for being our quiet place, our calm in the storm, our rock when waves are crashing. With you in our lives, we could not ask for more. We love you. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
