I have decided that the year 2009 is going to be my best year to date. For many of the past years it seems as though I was almost lethargic about the New Year. I just didn’t really care. For me it was well it’s another year to try and get through, with that kind of attitude its no wonder the past years weren’t all they could be.
At Word of Life here in Oklahoma the word of the year is “A Year of New Beginnings.” I can’t even begin to tell you how stinking excited I was when I heard that. “A Year of New Beginnings,” a year of new possibilities, a year of new opportunities, a year to start a new and begin again! I was completely thrilled! This was it! What I needed all along, a chance to start over and make the year 2009 my best year ever! The funny thing is, isn’t every year a chance to start over, a chance to change things in life. I don’t really know why I’ve never thought of this before, but if there’s things in our lives that need changing and there are new things we want to do or try, why wait till a new year starts? Why go through all the low points, during the year because you’ve made a bad choice, or you’re having problems. Why do we sit back and just take what is thrown at us?
At the end of 2008 and into the beginning days of this New Year, I was going through a lot of different obstacles. It was one of those problems that you think you’re done with for good then BAM! It hits you like freight train, and you start to question if you were ever really over it at all. This is where I was. I couldn’t get pass the fact that this is something I’ve dealt with for many years and I thought I was passed it. I was doing everything I’ve should’ve been doing, praying, reading my bible, everything! But yet this problem of insecurity began to flaunt its ugly head once again.
I was faced with a life changing decision. Do I lie down and let Satan walk all over me? Or do I pick myself up and put him back in his place? Easy decision right? Wrong! For weeks I had been sulking in this problem and didn’t even realize, I kept telling myself I was fighting it, but I wasn’t. I was taking every hit and it hard. It finally took God and the people around me that I love so dearly, to get me back on track. They had to get in my face and tell me either fight back, and really fight back or just stay where I’m at and have this problem the rest of my life. I chose the fight. No longer will I lie down and take it. So his will be a year of limitless beginnings, limitless possibilities and most of all a year of limitless opportunities, if I choose it!
So this year will be different this year I'll shine! "Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. 15 If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. 16 Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand — shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven. Matt 5:14-16 (message bible)
