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We are on the cusp of a new year, filled with 365 new days.
A new start.
A new start.
New opportunities.
Full of promises.
New mercies every day.
The past two years have been difficult for many. We have seen so much pain, so much loss, so much division. Many of us mourn loved ones lost too soon, and we crave hope for the days to come.
Like many of you, I have been thinking about the New Year 2022. What do I hope to accomplish in the next year? What do I want to change? When I look back in a year, what do I want to see?
Last week, as these thoughts crossed my mind, a word came to my mind: Privacy.
I aspire to more privacy in my life. Intimacy with my Heavenly Father. Intimacy with my husband. Intimacy with my children. Intimacy with my extended family. Intimacy with my friends.
I want to experience a deeper level of intimacy with everyone around me.
Make a decision today. My brother has a friend who wrote a book title Lose 40 pounds in 1 day. Its premise is that it takes a day to make the decision to do whatever it takes to lose those 40 pounds. Around the time of my divorce, I did just that: one day I got angry and gave up on snacks and sugar. Two simple changes that led to fairly rapid weight loss. As I started to see my weight drop, I added exercise and made other changes. My life has changed completely with this simple commitment to myself.
I think that’s the starting point for anything we want to accomplish. For me, I focus on the desired outcome (increased privacy), and I will do whatever it takes to achieve my goal. In the book of Daniel it says that Daniel determined in his heart not to sin against God by defiling himself with the king’s food and drink (Daniel 1: 8). He made a decision and acted on it.
What decision do you need to make today?
Decide what changes you need to make. Just as my example above suggests, we don’t have to take big steps to experience life-changing change. Often, it’s the little things that add up quickly. Want to lose weight ? Maybe your first change is to drink more water or cut out soda. Want to change your finances? Maybe you need to start making your lunch when you go to work. Want to gain privacy with those around you? Maybe you need to make a commitment to spend 10 minutes every day sitting with your loved one, asking questions about their hopes and dreams.
For me, I want to commit to making time with God on very first thing each morning. I want to commit to keeping the worship music in the background while I work. I want to commit to keeping a journal at least twice a week. A few small changes that don’t require a lot of work, but changes that can pay huge dividends. As Paul said in Philippians, there is a thing I do (Philippians 3:13).
What small changes do you need to make to reach your goals in 2022?
Spend time getting to know each other again. Intimacy is defined as close familiarity or friendship. It’s about knowing yourself so well that you can anticipate how circumstances will affect the other. It’s about sharing things that no one else knows. It’s about being so secure, so secure in your relationship that there is complete and complete trust.
Have you been through this with another human? With God? I know I have. I am in a season, however, where life is busy and chaotic and at times just overwhelming. So how do you regain privacy? Time. Time sitting with those I love. Time to ask questions and get to know those I love again. It is time to listen to their hearts, to understand their struggles. It’s time to hear their hopes and dreams. It’s time to sit down and enjoy their presence.
Privacy is a matter of time. Do you take the time today to gain intimacy with those you love? With God?
Remember the good times. What happens when you take the time to reflect on the good times you have spent with someone? Good memories? If you are like me, you start to feel joy. A deeper love. Do you feel a smile creep across your face as you remember those special moments? Want to recreate these moments, these memories?
Perhaps this is why the scriptures encourage us to remember. Remember his loyalty. To remember our first love. Remember the goodness of God. Remember the good things he did for us. Remembering is a way of experiencing intimacy. It’s a way to bring our hearts and minds back to why we picked someone in the first place. It is a way of renewing a relationship that has experienced a certain level of separation.
Let’s all take time in this New Year to remember – to remember all the good times we had with our Savior and loved ones.
My ultimate goal for 2022 is privacy. I don’t know what you expect in the New Year, but I pray that you make the decision to pursue it with all your heart and experience the fullness of our Savior like never before!
Happy New Year My friends!
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