New year celebrations are funny things especially when it comes to resolutions. I mean, I’m the same person at midnight as I was an hour before waiting on the ball to drop. Nothing changes just because the date does. It’s just another day, after all.
New Year Sunrise
In reality, every new day is a day we can evaluate life and make changes if we choose.
But, there’s something about resetting the clock. A fresh start. A new year full of possibility.
As Chip and Dan Heath put it in The Power of Moments, New Year resolutions really should be called “New Year absolutions.” It’s like the slate for old me is wiped clean and new me has the potential to come alive.
We’ve all tried (and failed) at resolutions before. So, I took a different approach this year. I decided to take an entire month to discover areas of change and focus for 2019 rather than determine them by brute force.
Like many of you, I’ve spent some time over the past few days reflecting on 2018 and looking ahead to 2019. Of course, there have been tough spots and low points just like any other year. Because my nature is to only focus on areas that need improvement, I’m aiming to celebrate more.
My Best Nine for 2018 on Instagram
This list took some effort and I think it’s solid. And, I feel a deep sense of gratitude. Some of these are a bit more personal. Others might seem self-congratulating. But, my hope and prayer is that through my sharing, it will inspire you to look back and find those gifts from God in your own life. We don’t deserve them, yet because of God’s generosity and love, we have the freedom to enjoy them.
I also hope it challenges you to reach higher in 2019. When I look at this list, I certainly feel that. I’m humbled and grateful but also ready to get after it.
So, without shame or qualification, I invite you to celebrate 2018 with me. Here’s my Top 100 for 2018:
I came across this image a few weeks back and included it my daily visual inspiration. I haven’t been able to get away from it. If it’s true that “a picture says a thousand words” then this definitely qualifies.
To me, there’s so much going on here. Two friends who love what they do. Proud of what they contribute to their community. Men of meager means. No fame. But, their faces say it all.
What you value
The quality I see most in this image is contentment. You can see it in their eyes… in their smiles. Others might look on them with pity or disdain, but not me. In some sense, I envy their simplicity. In another, I’ve experienced a measure of contentment the past few years as never before.
It all has to do with what you value and what’s truly important. In ministry, it’s easy to fall into the trap of discontentment because you’re working for a “higher calling”. It’s our justification for always wanting more.
Take Inventory
Are you truly at rest?
Are you really at peace?
Is there a nagging sense that you’re not paying enough attention to the most important things like family and friendships?
Do you feel guilty when you take time for yourself?
Do you feel as though you’re never doing enough?
Are you able to stop and smile at the work of your hands?
If it’s good enough for an apostle
Take a look again at the image above. Soak it in. Slow down. Take a tip from one of the most driven figures in the Bible, Paul, when he said:
Actually, I don’t have a sense of needing anything personally. I’ve learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I’m just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I’ve found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.
Ok… “problem” is not the right word. There’s nothing wrong with bucket lists. In fact, a bucket list is something I believe you should take the time to think through and draft. But having a list is the easy part. The problem with bucket lists is that most of the time they are just that… lists.
There are many challenges when I look at my bucket list. And not just my list. You all had quite a few big ones on the list as well. Here’s a sampling (of items sent in by you):
Benaiah comes over with tears in his eyes and says, “EMERGENCY!!!” He tilts his head back so I can look in his nose and I calmly say, “You’re good. You’re not bleeding. Did you scratch yourself or something?”
“No, there’s a Lego stuck up in there.”
Shaking his head he says, “No, there’s a Lego stuck up in there.” At this point in the story, I’d like to say that I remained calm, cool, and collected. But, I didn’t. My response went something Iike…
“Oh no! Why would you stick a Lego up your nose? Honey, get off the phone, we’re probably going to the emergency room. Ben, why would you do this? Don’t ever do that again. Oh man.”
Now, in my defense, I looked in his nose and there was most assuredly NOT a Lego up in there which means there was a Lego WAY up in there. So I had a bit of a reason to freak out, at least a little.
We went to the bathroom and one good, hard blow later and the Lego was in my hand. I know it’s gross but I was thankful to have the ironically green Lego piece in my hand and not the recesses of my son’s nasal and sinus cavity.
The lesson I learned
He cried a little bit and I was relieved but as we sat there watching Astro-Boy later that evening, I reflected back on my response…. or rather, my reaction. Not that I freaked out all that much but, I should have remained a bit more calm.
Later in life, when my son has something really important to tell me, I don’t want him to be afraid of my reaction. I don’t want him to hold it in like we sometimes do, only to try and navigate whatever situation or problem he’s facing on his own.
At times, we all suffer silently in temptation, sin, guilt, grief, fear or depression because we’re afraid of how others will react.
At times, we all suffer silently in temptation, sin, guilt, grief, fear or depression because we’re afraid of how others will react. We’ve got to do a better job of confessing to one another. But more than that, we’ve got to be the kind of people others can confess to because in the end…
The other night, a friend and I stopped at a gas station just outside Nashville on our way home from the Montgomery Gentry video shoot. I went inside to grab some snacks for the late night drive home and my interaction with the attendant (we’ll call him George) went something like this:
George: Is that gonna do it for ya?
Me: Yep. (Pause) Oh, and this Powerbar. Don’t know why I kept it in my hand.
George: Do you have cash? Cause you can’t pay with a credit or debit card for that.
Me: I can’t use my debit card?
George: Not for that. Everything else is fine except for that. It’s against the law to pay for it with a credit card.
Me: It’s against the law to pay for the Powerbar with my credit card? That’s the silliest thing I’ve ever heard.
George: Where are you from, son?
Me: Birmingham. But why does that matter?
George: Well, up here it’s illegal to pay for that with a credit or debit card.
Me: That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. Why in the world would that be illegal?
George: Well, they probably don’t want people running up debt by coming in here buying a bunch of them all at the same time.
Me: That’s hilarious! Stupidest law I’ve ever heard of in my life. I can’t believe it’s illegal in Tennessee to pay for a Powerbar with my credit or debit card no matter how many I want to buy at one time. I should be able to buy as many as I want even if in this case it only happens to be one.
George: Did you say “Powerbar?” I thought you said “PowerBall.”
Funny how one small misunderstood word can change an entire conversation. Communication would be much more effective if we would just back up and clarify what we said instead of expecting the other person to magically understand where we’re coming from.
