Making the New Year Resolutions Stick

Through last week, things were busy making last minute Christmas preparations and then enjoying special times with family and friends. Christmas came and went in the blink of an eye! But the treasured memories will forever stay in our heart.

This week often finds us looking toward the New Year. What will it bring, what are some things we want to do differently, what good habits do we want to incorporate into our lives?

In 2011, one of my goals was to "Grow In 4 G". Increasing in:

Grace
Genuine
Generosity
Greatness

This outline gave me some things to work toward and I see the Lord do some great things in my heart. But one more thing impacted my year even greater.

Having a general plan is good, but for me to be diligent, I needed some day by day activities to keep me on track. Over at A Holy Experience, there was a challenge to find 1000 Gifts. Monthly sheets were available for free download to mark at least one gift a day. This may have been the first time ever, but I stuck with this for an entire year!! Each morning, I would think of a gift from the Lord, I was thankful for and write it down. This led to being aware through the day of the many blessings that were easy to overlook. Simple things all around such as:

church family holding hands to pray
early morning sunlight streaming through bathing the room
a dad and his boy walking with a dog following behind
sharing a meal with an unexpected guest
and many more

This year, the Lord is working in my heart to grow in excellence. Many ideas are swarming around to grow and through the year journey in excellence. Once things get more settled, I'll be sharing with you!

May this week find you with a thankful heart and a prayerful and expectant heart for the Lord's work in your life.

If you are interested in finding blessings through each day, A Year of Graces is available for free download. You can print the year long calendar off at once, or simply do month by month and jot down a gift from God each day. This will give a blessed start to the New Year.

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