New Year's Eve/Day....Ending or Beginning?

It’s New Year’s Eve once again, a time for resolutions that most of us won’t keep and a time to change anything we didn’t like the previous year. To me, New Year’s Eve represents an ending, an ending of the year that seems to have passed by so quickly in the rearview mirror. 2017 had many ups and downs within its 365 days. Memories of the good seem to fade as the year goes on, while memories of the bad seer into our minds. We save pictures and messages of the good in hopes that they will keep the memory alive. Yet, we want to destroy any hint of the negative memories. Both the positive and negative have gotten us where we are today. The positive events help us continue to have hope in the future and continue to have fun. The negative events help us grow because it’s often said that we grow through trials and tribulations. So, while we want to erase those negative memories, they are just as important to our story as the positive memories.

In 2017, I have developed friendships that I never would have imagined. My life was in shambles at the end of 2016 and I looked ahead to 2017. Through this year, I’ve lost loved ones to death, life changes, or simply different places in life. I’ve learned things about myself, with the help of these new friends, that I hadn’t discovered. And I learned some things about the people in my life that I would have rather stayed in the dark about. But all of these helped shape me this year.  To say 2017 is a year for the books would be an understatement. The person I was January 1 is not the same person writing this today. So, to 2017, it’s been a fun, albeit tough, year.

While New Year’s Eve might be an ending of sorts, New Year’s Day is a brand-new start to a 365-page chapter in our book of life. Each day is a new page ready to be filled with new memories. We may not know what lies ahead or what the future holds. The good news is we know Who holds the future. We’re getting ready to turn the page and end this chapter that was 2017. As we go into 2018, I challenge you, just as I challenge myself, to think about what you want to see different this year. Don’t make resolutions that you know inevitably won’t be kept. Don’t even call them goals. Make a list of things, no matter how small or large, that you would like to see different in 2018.

To the friends who’ve stood by me this past year, I thank you. To everyone walking into 2018 with me, I thank you. Let’s walk into 2018 with a smile, knowing we have another opportunity to write the best chapter yet. Let’s let go of the past, look forward to the future, and live for the present. Because now is all we have. Happy New Year!

Change- The good, the exciting, and the sad

Change affects all of us a little differently. Some take it very well. Others take it like a life altering event. And some change is that. Some change is good, while some change is difficult. Some you expect, while other change is thrust upon you. I, myself fall into a middle ground category. I take change at a gradual pace. It takes time to get used to something new or different. And if it involves relationships, it takes my emotions even longer. While saying all of this, we need to embrace change...in ourselves and in others because how else do we grow? How else are we going to spread our wings? Tonight, I was trying to work on things for school and my cat wouldn't exactly let me get my work done so now she's sitting on top of my head watching me type. This year has been a whirlwind of a ride. Some really low moments and some moments that were really good. I've gotten to attend concerts with friends and join a new church where I've met new friends. And then there were the low points where things seemed to reach the bottom. Throughout it all, I had an amazing support system. There have been fears of CHANGE that that support system will crumble beneath me but the truth is, my support system was never supposed to be built on the foundation of people. It was supposed to be built on the foundation of God. Once I realized that, The fear of the support system crumbling wasn't as scary because my support comes from God who then allows others to help carry my burden. Change is scary and there is a lot of change that will be taking place in my life and the lives of those I love and care about over the next few months. Some of the change, I am excited for the people, but am sad for myself...Anytime there is change within a relationship, things become a little sad for what you may lose.... but there's a possibility you may gain even more! With my own change.....stepping out of your comfort zone is something new and scary and exciting but is worth it in the end. I am excited to be going to Guatemala this summer and a little scared at the same time. Change is inevitable...We have to learn that it is all around us and that we can't get away from it. Every day something changes and some are minor, while others are major. What are our responses going to look like when our days, our weeks, our months, our lives change? Will we take it well, gradually, or like a life altering event? I'm still learning, as we all are, that change doesn't have to be a bad thing. It's just....new.