Happy New Year.
Time to think about time (past and future). How will I use or waste my time this year? Didn’t make any New Year’s resolutions, in part because I know I will break them. And yet, I am thinking about how I want to be more mindful of my time this year. How will I try to do this?
1. Enjoy life. This means I want to be more intentional about enjoying life with family and friends, to be more focused on the present and less focused on what I have left to do. Sounds hedonistic? That’s okay because God put me in this life to enjoy it fully. We are not merely here to wait for heaven.
2. Love others. Yesterday my pastor reminded us that the only debt we should have is the debt of love (Romans 13). Lord, help me to love my family and think more of their needs and less of my own. [Ironically, as I write this, I’m challenged to deal with a discipline issue with one of my sons–and tempted to overpower him with my “righteous” indignation.
3. Know God. I must admit that mostly I live life as a practical atheist. I think I’m in charge and in control of my own life. Prayer is more for blessing of my desires rather than looking for what God is already doing around me. I want to see him in the little things, the annoying things, the interruptions, the unplanned interactions, etc. I must practice the daily art of longing for God.
—–
Here’s a question for you: Do you feel better or worse at new beginnings? Do you feel better in January than December? How do you view time? Are you an eternal optimist (“It’s gotta get better”)? Fatalist (Not thinking about life, just keep moving)? Or other.
Musings on Faith and Psychology 
IN the last 2 years my wife and I have had a written set of goals and objectives for the year under the usual headings of spiritual, health, finances etc. We don’t look it over every month, so we were pleasantly surprised that we met most of our goals for 2006 when we looked at the list this year. This gave us the added impetus to put up another set of goals this year. We set up a bible passage for the year, one for the month and one for the week to read and meditate on as our daily devotion before work every morning. We will see how faithful we are as the weeks and months pass us this year. There is an an excitement about 2007 that is palpable amongst friends and the body of Christ that we interact with. The number seven is a number of completion and we hope several projects will come to completion this year for a bountiful harvest. So this year we feel very enthusiastic and optimistic and the fact that the stock market reached another record high yesterday hopeful boosting our investment portfolio also helped. Praise the Lord!
Thought provoking blog…
Presently, I don’t feel that I fall into either category (optimist or fatalist). Perhaps I am going through a pre-midlife crisis of sorts, but I am more in a state of panic. TIME IS MOVING TOO QUICKLY! Where have the past 10 years gone? Every year just evaporates more quickly than the last! Does that make me a Realist….or just nuts?
When I slow down to think about the past 10 years, I am amazed to see how many goals Rob and I have fulfilled, and how God has led us! Perhaps that is why time seems to be flying! What I have been most impressed about is God’s faithfulness. As I reflect, I can clearly see how each phase of our lives has led us to this very moment. What an amazing God we serve!
I am also struck by the brevity and beauty of life! It truly is a gift…and I do not want to waste one moment! I want to know God more fully…and truly!
Bayo, I’m probably more of a pessimist. Most of us New Englanders are. However, I hope more people do what you and your wife do. I especially like the passage for the month. It allows us to linger a bit with the Word. While reading the bible through in the year is good, its also good to linger in the Word.
I’m with you on the time flying bit. Just yesterday I held my kids and changed their diapers and now they are 8 and 6. Where did the time go?!