Goodbye 2021! Hello 2022!

 I've heard it said that the years go faster the older we are because they're an increasingly smaller percentage of our lifetime. For example, when you are ten years old, one year is roughly ten percent of your life. On the flip-side, at fifty years old, ten percent of our lives is roughly five years.

What's your take on why time seems to go faster? Is it the load of responsibility, our natural aging process that tends to slow us down so time appears to speed by, or something else?

The opportunities for growth are ever-present. Sometimes we drop the hammer on ourselves and learn valuable lessons, other times, we observe people doing the hammer-dropping and their subsequent response. Some sage advice given to me as a teenager was to observe and learn. I can't say I've always followed that advice, nevertheless, I absolutely agree with it. These challenges, I believe, segue us into an opportunity to lean as well as learn. Lean on our families, on each other, but especially on God. One of my favorite scriptures is Proverbs 3:5, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding". God is so good. Even through our difficulties, He is there waiting for us to turn to Him, to rely on Him, to cast our burden at His feet.

I recently read a book by Kathryn Jenkins, Enduring with Grace and Strength. Wow. It is beautifully written and so inspiring. In talking about enduring some really tough things, she says, "He knows I can do it. More importantly, He needs me to know I can do it." That really struck me. God knows I can do all things through Christ but He needs me to know I can. What a great lesson. So many good nuggets of wisdom she has learned and shares with us in this short book. 

Looking forward, do you make new goals, resolutions, lists? I don't make resolutions anymore. I do try to make goals, but that is an ongoing thing. This year I tried a new thing. I picked a word that I wanted to represent the year for me. That word was Finish. Well. I did finish a few things. Not as many as I hoped, but as with many of us, my years started off great and trickled to barely tumbling over the finish line to 2022. My word for 2022 is Disciple. I'm hoping to grow in Christ's light and that includes reading the Old Testament. There are so many knowledgeable people offering resources for study so I'm really excited for this. Leave a comment and tell me one thing you want to accomplish in 2022 or maybe your word for the year. 

I pray that the year 2022 will hold bounteous blessings for you--however they may come.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book. My opinions and comments are my own.