New Year, New You!

If you don't know it, we put out a monthly newsletter from Behold The Child. I encourage you to sign up (www.eccehomopress.com). Here's a bit of what I wrote for the newest issue:

It is customary to make resolutions during this first month of a new year. We stand, feet akimbo, hands firmly on our hips and declare “This year will be the best year ever!” We are sure of ourselves in January, everything is possible with a new calendar in front of us and the graces of Christmas full in our hearts.

It seems that everyone does this regardless of faith; it is human nature to want a new start, a chance for a do-over and the hope for a better tomorrow. There has been a good deal of press recently concerning Gretchen Rubin who undertook remaking her whole life in one year - one idea/resolution per month. The resulting book The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun is being lauded by the media as project we might all want to undertake. Perhaps.

I applaud her desire to find more happiness as I am a big fan of happiness. Joy is after all a virtue but I doubt my own ability to decide what to work on. However, inspired to a degree by the thought of having a happier life I decided that my own life could stand a makeover. However, not wanting to rely on myself (or just anyone else) as I began I wondered who could I turn to for a role model. Being a woman it was natural that I seek another woman; a woman I could trust who had already lived a life worth imitating. You all know who I found don’t you? Mary!

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Let our year begin with our first introduction to Mary in Scripture where we have her trust made so clear, so undeniable. Isn’t that how we want to approach this new year - trusting in God for all that God is asking? All the God wants of us? All that He needs from us? In Luke we witness her concern, her questions at the arrival of Gabriel, we are told she is troubled and she trusts God enough to voice it - “How can this be?”

That we may be so trusting. For God has much in store for us this year and we need to trust Him as it arrives. Trust that His plan is perfect and He only desires our good. We can voice our concerns as Mary does, we can wonder how it ‘can be’ but we will trust as Mary does.

If you want to read all of what I wrote, check out the website to sign up for the newsletter (which also includes some neat offers and other good stuff!).

(BTW - I have NOT read Ms. Rubin's book and therefore cannot recommend it but used it only as a reference to my own plan. I do plan on giving it a read when it becomes available at my public library and I'll let you know about it if you'd like. If anyone has read it and would like to share their thoughts - let us know!)