Are you fed up with the way you did things last year? Does something need to change? Then maybe you should make a New Year’s Resolution. If you don’t know what this is, it’s a to-do list for the first week of January. Ok, some of my more diligent friends make it to February, but many of us look back on past resolutions and get discouraged and grumpy. One guy said, “Dear God, my prayer for 2025 is a fat bank account and a thin body. Please don’t mix these up like you did last year.”
I’m no stranger to missing the goals I set for myself. I’m the guy who scored the winning-season-ending goal in front of a packed house full of crazed hockey fans. I scored it in my own net. So
maybe we need to simplify our goals for the coming year. This year my resolution is to remember what year it is when I write out cheques. But I have another goal I’d like to tell you about. First, here are a few New Year’s Resolutions people have posted online.
“I will stop buttering my doughnuts.” Did you know you can buy deep-fried butter now? That doesn’t mean you should. Please don’t.
Here’s another: “This year I’ll stop licking frozen flag poles.” Good idea.
“I will do less laundry and use more deodorant.” Ouch. Don’t be doing this, my friends.
“This year I will stop using Facebook as the primary communication method with my wife and kids.” Great idea. I’m going to text my kids and tell them.
“This year I will think of a password other than the word ‘password.'” Good idea. In fact, I heard of an older gal whose memory was gone, so she changed her password to “incorrect.” That way when she logged in with the wrong password, the computer told her what her password was. It said, “Your password is incorrect.”
Well, it doesn’t take much courage to stop buttering doughnuts or apply more deodorant, does it? I suppose if you set your goals low enough, you can meet them. But my recommendation this year is that we center in on a simple act that will increase our level of joy all year long. Guaranteed.
During the occupation of Holland during World War II, a Dutch family risked everything to rescue Jews, aiding the Resistance. But it split the family apart, cost some their freedom, and others their lives. In the end, their courageous efforts saved hundreds of Dutch Jews. But imagine the torment of it. Deet Eman, the brave young daughter, kept a diary, and as one traumatic year drew to a close, she wrote this:
“What will this year bring us? Liberty? Reunion? Lord, you know it already. This time last year, when we were all together, we would never have thought that all this would happen! But you knew it. And we still have to give you thanks, for in some way this is necessary for the big plan you have for this world.
“Lord, you have taken every second of our life in your own hand. And it has been good. You will take care of us in the future and therefore a future with you is good.
“Lord you who have guided our lives up till now and have been love for us. We thank you for everything you gave us, and all we needed. We thank you for the happiness, peace, joy, and now also for our sadness, Lord. Give us, for the coming year, the certainty that you will always be near us, always will hear us, and that your eye will look down upon us in love. Then we can enter this New Year with JOY.”
This year when we’re tempted to grumble, or despair, or compare, or regret, or worry, may we remember these words of gratitude and joy and give thanks that nothing will happen to us this year that God cannot redeem, that He has plans for us, that He is looking on us with love.
