2017 is slowly fading into the dusk and on the dawn horizon is 2018.

Many of us make new year resolutions, half if any at all, we keep. I hold my hand up. In spite of this, we long for new beginnings, for great things to happen in our lives. We hope our dreams come to fruition, this time….this year. It hasn’t happened in the past, but this year it will! We have hope for the future!

But what does hope for the future mean? A new diet, new wardrobe, a new relationship, new places to visit? Nothing is wrong with any of that expect at the end of the day, it still leaves us empty and looking for what satisfies deep down….that elusive craving for something more.

The Bible talks about taking of the “old self” and putting on the “new self.” For Christians that means accepting Christ into our lives, having a new nature and living out life as God intended. There is nothing else that truly satisfies than this! I know. I’ve been down that road numerous times, making new resolutions each new year, filling my life with the things that I thought would satisfy and coming up empty time and time again!

Let this year be a different year, a different new year resolution. Let it truly be a new beginning with Christ in your life. Try it and you’ll see, you won’t be craving for anything else once you’ve found Him.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL MY READERS

There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

Like the seasons of nature we have seasons of life. Not always ones we like. But, like nature, our seasons must change and, we can be productive in any season.

I was talking to God one day around the time I had a significant birthday, telling Him I had reached this age and I didn’t know what I was doing with my life, and I asked Him, where do I go from here. His response immediately came back, “I don’t see your age, I see you.”  At the same time, flashing before my eyes were all the patriarchs of the Old Testament and how God used them in their old age, in the Winter of their lives.

In this Autumn season of my life I am moving into the things I was meant to do long ago but for one reason or another, didn’t happen.  So as I press on with hope in my heart, I know I will accomplish all that God has planned for me to do.

Which season of life are you in at this moment? Do you believe that you can be useful no matter which season it is? I pray that whatever season in life you’re in right now that you would accomplish the things you were born to do.

Some of us tend to be more conscious about the things we do than being aware of ourselves. We’ve heard the expression, we are not human doings but human beings.

Well, I’m not the most relaxed person. I find myself doing things at a pace – walking fast, thinking fast to the point that my brain is already reaching for the next task before the present one is fully accomplished. And before I’ve completed one task, I’m off to the next. I tend to have three or four books which I’m reading, at the same time. And here is a biggy! I’m always trying to get to where I’m going on time and if I fail to accomplish that, I usually get annoyed with myself or whomever else got me to my appointment late.

It’s when I sit quietly talking with God or reading a book, where time doesn’t seem to matter, that I become conscious of myself, my body. Shoulders high almost to my ears, back taut, body tense and with this sudden realization I drop my shoulders, stretch my back and slowly relax.

Think of a spinning wheel, a merry go round that has momentum. The spinning is rapid at first and then gradually starts slowing down. It’s this slowing down stage that I’d like to achieve. This relaxed stage where there is not too much momentum but just enough to be able to achieve the things I set out to do. More with a calmness and thoughtfulness that makes everyone and everything around me have that same sense of calm.

Some reading this might suggest meditation or yoga, the gym or leisure centre. I’ve done all that. That’s still doing! What I’m talking about is just being more conscious of myself. That means stopping occasionally and taking stock of my body, my mind. This marvelous body with it’s outside and inside workings that God has created.

At the same time, I am thankful for who I am right now. It’s helped me to achieve a lot in life. But a time comes when it’s important to slow down, and yet still able to accomplish much.

I think settling down to my new career in writing would certainly help, don’t you?