New Year- New Start!

It’s a new year!! Can you believe that we are actually half way through January? The older I get, the faster time seems to fly. Can you relate?

As Nathan and I were praying over this coming year, God gave us the word “Grow” for our family. The verse that really spoke to us was Colossians 2:6-7. (NLT)

And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow Him. Let your roots grow down into Him, and let your lives be built on Him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.

We desire that our faith and our children’s faith will continue to grow strong in truth. As we are getting ready to visit colleges this spring with our oldest, the idea of a child leaving our home is becoming more and more of a reality. We only have one and half years left to train and equip her for her future and for interacting with the world. Of course this won’t all stop the day she leaves for college, but we all know that our relationship will change. We want her to be ready, and we want to make good use of every day!

It’s a Process

In Colossians, Paul was encouraging the believers to continue to follow God. To actually accomplish that it takes action. It takes learning, changing and growing. In this fast paced world, it also takes focus. The only way that we have found to achieve what we have set out to do is to make goals. Not only to make them, but to post them and revisit them throughout the year. Do we always accomplish all our goals? Of course NOT! But we do succeed with more of them than if we didn’t take the time to write them down in the first place.

Are goals something that you are already doing? If so, awesome!! Comment below how you do it and how you help yourself accomplish them. If this is something new to you or something you always intend to do but don’t quite know where to start, we have some resources available for you today to get you started.

Anytime you start to think about goals it should always begin with prayer. Only God knows what this next year will bring. Only God knows what you need to focus on, what you need to grow in or what you need to let go.

Not Alone

This year I am reading through the New Testament and something in Matthew 2 stuck out to me and I have not been able to stop thinking about it. In Matthew 2:20-23 we learn two things about Jesus. One that His name will be Jesus and He will save us from our sins. This will be His mission here on earth. Second, We learn an important and valuable piece of information about Jesus. His name is also Immanuel, which means, God is with us! God intended for us to do life WITH Him. Not just check in with Him here and there but to daily, hourly be walking with Him.

As you think about what you want this next year to look like, invite Him into the process. Take the time to listen to His voice and see what direction He leads you. Then write it all down. Next, post it in a place where you will see it and be reminded of your goals. Lastly mark it on your calendar to set aside time throughout the year to evaluate your progress.

Ongoing Process

Throughout the year when you are looking at your goals, think about how you have grown and what you have accomplished. Take the time to celebrate those moments and thank God for your success. Then think about the goals that you haven’t made as much progress as you would have liked. Talk to God about them. Ask Him if they are still the right goals for this year. If you feel like they are, then ask Him to reveal to you any hindrances you have that might be preventing you from reaching those goals.

Everything in life has a mental, physical, emotional and spiritual side to it. You also have an enemy that is on high alert and will do anything that he can to prevent you from growing in your faith and becoming more like Christ. Spend some time asking the Lord to speak to you and show you the way forward. Sometimes it means focusing on healing. Sometimes you need to give something up. Other times you just need the reminder so you can refocus your time and energy.

Getting Started

So where do you begin? Below are some printables to help you get started. Each printable has a guide that will take you through the process of coming up with your goals for the year. A lot of times it is better to pick a few specific goals then to have a lot of broad, general goals. There are more types of goals below than you have time to actually accomplish. This is where prayer is so important. Look over the printables and then ask the Lord where to begin. Just do the ones you feel led to do and leave the rest. (Just don’t avoid the hard one- remember God is with you. With Him you will be able to accomplish more than you could ever do on your own! Trust Him to lovingly lead you!)

Our prayer is that in 2023 you actively follow Christ. That your roots will be grounded in Christ and that everything you do will come out of your solid foundation of the truth of the Word. That your faith will continue to grow and that you will live a life of thankfulness giving God all the glory for what He has done.

God has good things in store for you in 2023!

Check out these Printables to get you started: