Each year as I think about the next 12 months, I try to take time to reflect on the past year and all that has transpired. It’s been interesting. There was disappointment, excitement, fun, and frustration. Work had its successes and challenges. Home was full of love and squabbles. I’ve added new habits and struggled with old ones. There were many times when I felt like the days were just going by and I was simply reacting to what life was throwing at me. Drifting with the current. It felt like joy was missing because life was so busy.
However, as I looked back at my Day One journal I found a few highlights:
- The kids had a Makers Market for school and sold a bunch of stuff they made
- My brother and I built a new kitchen island with a marble countertop that he scored for me
- Mrs. King and I, along with some friends, started a supper club where we took turns hosting for meals and hanging out. Probably the highlight of my year.
- Mabel danced in Cinderella
- Caleb promoted a couple times in CAP and was promoted to Trainer at Chick-fil-A
- Otis had a great baseball season in kid pitch
- Kristie and the kids had their Edwina performance
- Caleb went to Prom for the first time
- I started getting closer with a couple friends
- I began mentoring a young man
- We fished more, and got access to a new spot
- We had a fun vacation to the lake
- We camped a few times, with good hikes and float trips
- We hosted our first neighborhood social in the fall and it was a success!
- We visited the Shawnee National Forest with my brother and his family
- We celebrated birthdays well as usual
- Mrs. King and I did a good job of going on regular dates
There’s a lot of good in there. It’s important to reflect on the good. I think we can trend toward focusing on the negative if we’re not intentional about capturing the good moments. I have enjoyed the Day One journal because it has helped me to capture daily thoughts and activities. Maybe I’ll do a review on this later.
I did spend the last few weeks of the year in a spiritual development experience that helped me to really reflect on my own relationship with God. The focus of it was drawing closer to God so that your thoughts and desires become those of God. I’ve been thinking a lot about my relationship towards God and during this process, as I prayed and listened, I kept feeling God urging me towards finding my joy in Him and finding time to rest or Sabbath.
As I move forward into 2023, I’m taking time to reset. My focus for the year are JOY and SABBATH. These two words will guide me as I explore the scripture for God’s will for my life and how I continue to fit into His story. I’ve also established a Rule of Life that I am committed to following. I’ll follow up with more on that later.