Happy New Year My Chickadees,
And again I say, Happy New Year. And this time it’s not just a cliché! It’s what we have all been anxiously anticipating – a new year. For most of us (who are not in the wealthy 1% category), Obama’s setup towards “Change” became a setback on steroids that exposed the ugly reality of race and the lack of concern for humanity, regardless of race, in this country. Then, came the pandemic… and 2020 will go down in infamy as the crescendo of the worst year in our lifetime.
It is time to regroup and reset our course. With crisis comes opportunity and as Pastor T. D. Jake so eloquently stated, our “setback is a set up for a comeback.” Yes, we may feel beat up, beat down, bruised, and broken but if we’re still here, then it’s not the end of our story. We have more to do and God is not through with us yet. It’s time to regroup.
What the crisis of 2020 challenged us to do was reevaluate and take stock of what and who is really important in our lives. As the entire world was forced to shut down, it made us stop and reflect on the fact that maybe God is trying to tell us something. Maybe God wants us to reevaluate what we in our materialistic society deem important. Maybe we had unconsciously made making money more important than morals and placed possessions over people. Maybe we had been so blinded by the things of this world that we forgot that the most important things are the things we can’t put a price on, like our relationships with our children, family, friends, life, and most important of all, God. Maybe God allowed 2020 to get our attention and consider that He is not pleased with our behavior. What we really need is a heart change, and that begins with a change of mind.
Let’s change our mind about how we see ourselves and others. If we choose to put on the Mind of Christ, we will begin to see ourselves and others through the eyes of love. Our attitude will expand from focusing on “I”, to considering “we”, and if we anchor ourselves in God and His word, we will begin to believe that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13).
Let’s regroup and reset with a change of heart. God gives us grace and new mercies every day, and a new year is filled with new opportunities to reset and get it right. Let’s approach and embrace 2021 as the year of renewal. Let’s renew our relationship with God and everyone in our lives. Let’s renew our commitment to ourselves to be better and not bitter. Let’s renew our commitment to our environment and make it a safe place for our children and grandchildren to grow up in. Let’s renew our commitment to “Love God with all our heart and all our soul and all our mind and all our strength, and love our neighbor as ourselves,” (Mark 12:30-31); and if we do, what a wonderful world this will be.
We are the change that we want to see. Let’s be that change. Let’s see ourselves, each other, and the world through the lens of possibilities. 2021 is filled with them. Let’s look up, get up, and live up to the commitment to be, in the words of Matthew Kelly, “The best version of ourselves.”
In 2021, let’s be the change we expect. We have all heard the cliché “Life is what you make it.” Without revisiting the nightmare we just lived through, let’s make it GREAT.
God allows U-turns and do overs. Regroup. Reset, and Renew. Let’s bounce back better. Let’s be better than we imagined we could be. Seize the opportunity to do your part to make 2021 the best year ever. Remember that you are the light and with God as your guide, it will be.
I love you, My Chickadees. You are already great. Now show the world.
Peace and blessings for a prosperous New Year in every way,
Gail