“ …When God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God. They seldom reflect on the days of their life because God keeps them occupied with gladness of heart.” Ephesians 5:19
The hummm of the golf cart alerts me. With a thump-thump, moving from gravel to a cement circle drive, it whirrs down my long driveway—and I know it’s Trash Day.
With one hand on the steering wheel and one on the handle, my neighbor drags the emptied trash receptacle down the long curving drive. Then he zooms back up, grabs the second dumpster, and repeats. Rain or shine.
A southerner born and bred, I’m a super-sized wimp when facing cold weather. So my lips curve in relief when I regard the weekly gift alleviating a frigid trudge up the lane.
That day, I spy him coming, so I hop outside as he buzzes up. His aging face splits into a grin as I thank him for his kindness. And with a wink, he says, “I am an old man, but this is one thing I can still do.”
He takes his giving seriously. He blesses every one of my thirteen neighbors on our u-shaped road with the same kindness. And he barely knows most of us.
Did 2022 leave you flat? Do you feel hopeful vibes for 2023? Or do you feel anxious, even desperate, for 2023 to be different? In some situations, we can create change with our words and actions, but other dumpsters stuffed full of refuse are not quickly emptied, so we must figure out how to deal with the unwelcome.
Some of you already have a detailed 2023 list with boxes to check, and some are just not resolutions-kind-of-people. So what if we reframe our minds to seek life changes instead of a desperate grab toward an ever-elusive “resolution.” The word itself conjures failure in my mind.
Nowadays, my three main goals stay fixed. They clear the clutter and give clarity as my life changers, my soul-sustainers. Repetition, repetition, repetition…the school teachers in my family say.
And I never want to forget.
As I bog in the disarray, the misunderstandings, and the fractures that litter life—I hold tight to the God who sustains me. My forever goals are summed up in this acronym:
- Accept God’s Grace
- Immersion in Beauty
- Make Scripture a priority
(4. My annual add-on—Kindness)
Number one: Grace—I accept God’s gift of unimaginable love, His unmerited favor. We all hide incidents in our past we are less than proud of. We have days we strive to forget. Our minds spin and stick and obsess. So accepting God’s grace daily keeps me drenched in hope and encouragement.
Number two: Beauty—We bought a derelict house on our first waterfront property seven years ago, and I found the missing in my pell-mell life—Nature’s breathtaking beauty. Even though I occasionally chased a sunset, I didn’t breathe its soul-cleansing aura regularly. Now I bathe in the greatest stress-relieving, soul-filling remedy to life.
Number three: Scripture—My hunger and thirst for God’s word have developed over years of teaching and digging. Scripture is my lifeline to God. The voice I hear in my head. I strive (sometimes well and sometimes not so well) for the upsets of bumps and craters to just be the background noise in a life lived for God.
Number Four: Kindness—Though my three life changers stay constant, I am adding one fruit of the Spirit each year to focus on. The buzzy trend nowadays to choose a word of the year is similar. I choose kindness.
I no longer dwell in the oasis of my Northeast Texas forest, but this sweet man’s simple acts remain with me.
An example of unselfish kindness.
Of who I want to be.
What are your forever goals? What fruit of the Spirit do you choose?