Just Do It

It’s a new year, so pause and take a deep breath.

…I am guessing you needed that, especially after the holiday season.

Even after having a long Christmas break, I feel as if life is only getting faster and I just cannot believe that 2012 is already over!

As always around New Year’s Day, it is a time to reflect on the previous year and see areas that need improvement and areas that have had significant growth. That’s what makes the new year so magical - because it feels like a new start. A new year gives us the optimism of new changes while previous year becomes only a memory.

So, around this time people are making New Years resolutions or attempting to keep the ones they have already made and I thought I would write a blog of encouragement. 

I was talking to a good friend the other day and she spoke about a change that she wanted to make within herself. She wanted to change her daily walk with God and become more intentional about spending time with Him everyday. She broke down and said:

“I want to become rooted in the word so I am the iron that sharpens iron like it says in the bible [Proverbs 27:17]. I want to be able to encourage my friends like they encourage me”

While she was confessing this to me, you could tell the deep burden she was carrying because of this.

It seemed like she felt inadequate to go before God and that it would be impossible for her to make a change.

And, basically what I am here to say is that is a lie.

The more we dwell on the fact of what we are not doing, the more it is going to cripple us from actually doing.

I told her that even if she just reads one scripture a day, it is a start!

I haven’t written a blog post in months and sometimes I will beat myself up about that because I enjoy doing it but life seems to get in the way. Then I have to snap out of it and realize there is no better time to start than now. And if I don’t end up writing a blog post next month or even in a few months, at least I am making a start.

So whatever New Years resolution you have made, whatever healthy choice or habit you are pursuing, just do it. Like Kathryn always tells me when I am over whelmed with school:

“How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.”

So breathe and go for it. And if you mess up for a day, week, month, or even months, pick yourself back up and remember that everyday can be January 1^st; everyday can always be a new beginning.

Here are some encouraging verses to read and memorize:

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. - Psalm 51:10

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! – 2^nd Corinthians 5:17

I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. – Philippians 3:14

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. –Galatians 5:1

Thanks for reading!

Karlie