With great anticipation, we look forward

The. New. Year.  

Oh, we are almost there, Friends. But before jumping headlong into 2025, I believe we are wise to take a moment to consider the year 2024.  Socrates made an excellent point when he said,               

the unexamined life is not worth living.

We ought not dwell on the past - what was, what could or might have been, because such dwelling serves no good purpose. Yet as we are the eve of a new year, a little personal reflection is very valuable; a look in the rearview mirror increases our awareness, while of course, forward thinking spurs us onto growth .  

Ah, take time to consider, time to think.

How I love these sage words from Ecclesiastes:

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

a time to be born, and a time to die;

a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; 

a time to kill, and a time to heal;

a time to break down, and a time to build up; 

a time to weep, and a time to laugh;

a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;

a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

a time to seek, and a time to lose;

a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

a time to tear, and a time to sew;

a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

a time to love, and a time to hate;

a time for war, and a time for peace. Ecclesiastes 3.1-8

Seasons, hmmm . . . O yes, wise Solomon was onto something.  Let's make time, a brief season to reflect:  [might want to print this out - to think, to write]

Think, pray, reflect, remember as you consider:

 *What were the highlights, the joys of 2024? ____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

*Blessings? Name them: _____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

*What were the struggles, the trials faced? _____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

*Anything that caused great pain?

_________________________________________________________

*How about growth in the year? In what ways did you grow in 2024?_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

*Is there anything you need to 'tear' from your life--to change or do away with? _____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

In considering these questions myself, blessings as well as trials, I can easily see how God has been so good in my life, how he has guided, sustained and carried me in the roughest spots.  

Truly, looking back reminds me God has been faithful. 

One thing I know - if I do not take stock, write things down and reflect, I could easily say 'Oh, 2024 is behind me now,'forgetting so many sweet times.  In truth, so much of life was lived . . . the good, the tough, the trying, the blessed.

And now - no living in the past! No continuing to look back over your shoulder, looking in the rearview mirror.  If you have taken just a little time, you recalled what has hurt, where you have lost, and of what you must let go.

Much growth comes in awareness of letting go of what has happened, what has come before, when we consider that indeed the new has come!  If you will just take a hold of and apprehend it, you can experience that which comes next--and that is wonderfully exciting.

Until then ...  HAPPY     NEW       YEAR!

Christine

PastorWoman.net