New Year's...Remembrances

It is a tradition among some to write New Year's resolutions, which involves writing your goals and hopes for the next year. Maybe this helps some people--I'm sure it does. However, I have not been one of those people.  Perhaps my goals were too broad, too big, or just plain dumb. Other than the good exercise of writing down goals, New Year's resolutions sort of depressed me. I liked the idea of them, but it seemed like they were just paper, pencil, and lofty goals…lofty goals I was likely not to achieve. They were time capsules of disappointment.

Several years ago, someone challenged me to, instead of merely writing resolutions, write a list of all the things I had accomplished that year and some of the things God had helped me learn. It was one of the most encouraging things I have ever done.

Now, I am not a drunk-on-self-love type. I find all of that rather annoying and unbiblical. However, it is clear that God wants us to remember what He has done in us, and when we only focus on what we want to do or who we want to be in the future, we may miss what He has already done, and who He is already helping us to be right now.

In Joshua 4 God told his people to build a memorial to remind them what He had done and to be a remembrance for their children.

“When your children ask their fathers in times to come, ‘What do these stones mean?’ then you shall let your children know, ‘Israel passed over this Jordan on dry ground.’ For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we passed over, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever.” (Joshua 4:21-24)

So try it. It doesn't need to be anything fancy. Find a piece of paper, a piece of quiet, and remember. Write things you've accomplished, learned, and experienced. I bet you'll be surprised. Chat with your family about the Lord's grace and provision for the great and the small this year of 2014. 

And a Happy New Year to you!

Keep the Faith,

Audrey Ann

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