Well, it’s January 2nd…Happy New Year and two days in already. Do I feel ready for a new year? Do I feel prepared to do all that in rolling around in my brain to do? CAN I do everything I want and hope to do? Do I have enough steam? Stop the madness already!!
I was ironing a shirt the other day and didn’t feel like refilling the water tank in the iron. No big deal…it’s still going to get hot enough to iron the shirt. And it did…sort of. There was enough heat to begin the job, but the steam is what completes the job. So, I stopped, got the water pitcher and filled up the tank. Within a few seconds, the water and the neat of the iron connected and huge plume of steam burst out of the iron ~ magic! Now, my shirt would be ready sans wrinkles very soon. That little transaction made me think about my life. Yes…it did…doesn’t take much for God to make a point to get me to pay attention.
How many times this year did I use a “hot enough” iron to get the job done, when I really needed the steam? It’s a little thing really. How much time did it take me to fill the iron with water ~ about 20 seconds. But I had to stop what I was doing, and I didn’t want to because I was kinda in a rush. I didn’t want to have to concentrate on pouring water into the tiny little hole at the top of the handle area. If I didn’t concentrate though, I’d have a river of water flowing out of the iron and all over my shirt and the ironing board and then I’d have to stop and mop that mess up! UGH! Was it worth it? To pay attention for about a minute and do the job right? Absolutely!
So in this new year…I’m not going to make any resolutions. Nope. Not gonna do it! Because then I beat myself up when I don’t accomplish those resolution goals. Sometimes it’s simply because I put too many restrictions on myself, or make unrealistic goals.
What I am going to do in this new year of 2016 ~ I’m going to make sure I have enough steam to accomplish what is set before me.
That “steam” is going to take a lot of different forms this year.
*Eat well & drink more water ~ this means I’ll have the energy I need for my mind and body to flow through the day.
*Bible study time ~ this means I’ll have enough spiritual energy to tackle whatever comes my way. And not just a scheduled 15 minute “read my devotional”, but to really dig deep and fall in love with God’s Word more and more each day. I will have to make a concentrated effort to plug in to what God is wanting to teach me so that He can pour in His living water!
*Family meal time ~ this means having purposeful time together with my sweet family. We already do a pretty good job having dinner together every night, but I need to inject more “steam” in cooking dinner and not picking up something from a restaurant or resort to breakfast for dinner as often as I have in the past few months. (Hey…there is definitely a place for waffles and scrambled eggs for dinner….don’t get me wrong. 🙂 Just not as frequent).
*Friend time ~ this means making an actual phone call to a friend to plan a coffee or lunch date. NOT texting back and forth to confirm it. But go the old-fashion route of calling them and hearing their voice.
*Electronic Free time ~ this means not carrying around my phone and checking it a million times a day. We don’t have a land line, so I do need to have my cell phone close by if someone calls, but I don’t have to be holding it and looking at facebook or instagram updates every five seconds. This will also mean that I have time to do another “old-fashioned” thing ~ it’s called writing a letter! You know, when you get a card or just a plain old piece of paper, and write down your thoughts and mail it to another person! Hand written letters are a treasure ~ trust me when I tell you that if you take the time to write someone a letter (or even jot a short thought down on a postcard), the recipient will feel like royalty!! Definitely something that will be treasured!
So, will I have enough steam this year? My prayer is a resounding YES!! My reality may fall short sometimes, but I’m not going for perfection. That only happens on TV. Everyday that I wake up, I’m going to pray and ask the Lord to show me how I can get enough steam for the day….and where to direct that steam! Direction is very important!! When you’re ironing a shirt, and you get your hand too close to the front of the iron & you hit that “steam” symbol button and you end up steaming your fingers…OUCH! Or if you are ironing very fast and end up creating new creases in your shirt than when you started out with. Those are tougher to get out than just regular wrinkles. They seem “set in” and are so crisp and perfect. That’s when you have to use that other button, the “sprayer” and get a larger amount of water down on that one spot, then hit it again with the hot iron and steam.
~ Concentration ~ Direction ~ Commitment ~ Time ~
Jump into this new year and leave all the old junk in 2015! You don’t need it and it’ll just weigh you down. Gotta keep things light so that the steam can carry you throughout your days. Keep your eyes on the task that God has given you and trust that He will fill you with His living water, heated by His compassion and love for you, with enough gracious direction to help you flow from one day to the next.
Happy New Year!!
Blessings,
René
Broken & Blessed~Adventures in Gratutide! 