Every year, on New Year’s Day, I take down my old calendar, and transfer all the Birthdays to the New Year calendar.  I love doing this because I get to revisit my notes from the prior year. Sometimes they are appointment reminders, others are notes about visitors coming, or trips we took. Some are sad notes, others evoke great memories.  2022 is coming to an end and for some it will be a relief, a joyous thing to celebrate.  For others, it may be frightening, anxiety-filled, or sad to let go of a great year. Whatever emotions you feel at the end of 2022 and heading into 2023; it’s coming, and we are wise to celebrate with trust and faith for we have no idea what each day holds.

At the end of 2019, my husband and I thought we would try to recall every major event from a decade up to the beginning of 2020- so not quite a decade, I know, but it was fun to think we were headed into 2020. Little did we know what it would look like. We remembered all the fun things; the trips, our grandkids being born, our move to Oregon, and so much more. We also remembered all those that we lost in the past 10 years. We lost some very dear friends, cousins, siblings, Aunts, Uncles, and our dog.  We remembered the health issues family and friends went through or were diagnosed with, including some of my husband’s health issues. We adopted our dog, Sophie. We had so many items that we were a little astounded at how many fun times, trying times, and in-between times we had. It was a great way to head into the last year of a decade and beyond. We started to go back to 2000, the year we were married. If you’ve never done such an exercise, give it a try.

I’ve blogged about so many memories from this year, that I won’t touch on it here, but I recommend taking assessment of your last 364 days. Were they mostly joyous, trying, sad, or somewhere in between?  Did you accomplish what you wanted, did you give your best to your resolutions, were you all-in for your family or were you distant? Did you surround yourself with people who supported and loved you?  If your last 364 days weren’t lived in such a way that pleases you, you still have 1 more day. Then one more day after that and so on.

Moving into a new year is like purchasing a new notebook; you can be excited about the blank canvas in front of you, free from blemishes. You can envision how you will fill the pages, how you won’t doodle on the cover and dog-ear the pages, keeping your notebook tidy and neat, serving a purpose that you set forth for it.  However, we know how that goes; the pages get dog-eared, the cover gets doodle marks, there are smudges and scribbles, and sometimes the binding gets worn and cracked.  We never know what tomorrow will look like, or next month, or several months. Truth be told, it is a darn good thing we don’t! Imagine some of your worst days; if you had known they were coming and exactly what they would look like, you would have curled up in a corner refusing to go out. Right?  Somehow, we always muster the strength and the courage to get through whatever comes our way.  Looking back, we may wonder how we ever did so, but we do.  God gives us the courage and the strength to get through the hard times and he is there celebrating with us through the fun times.   Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.  Matthew 6:34 

Whether you anticipate the New Year with dread or untethered joy, it is coming, and we need to prepare for it with as much planning as a human can do, with as much gusto as we can muster, with anticipation and faith of children, and with the knowledge that we are not alone, not in this life or after. Surround yourself with friends and family in this life that will celebrate your good times and your successes as well as the not-so-good times, your sad times, and your downright rough times.  Over Christmas, my household was sick with a bad cold. We were all laid up. My sister drove 45 minutes to bring us a pot of chicken soup and some cold medicine. Those are the type people you want to surround yourself with and the type of friend or family member you want to strive to be in the New Year! “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Hebrews 12:1

Happy New Year. Be blessed, be bold, be courageous.

Lana