  Happy New Year! It is that time again—New Year resolution-making time. I got out the 3-sheet goal setting exercise I did last December and read through it. Some of it made me feel successful. Some of it made me feel frustrated because I will have to strive for it again this coming year. A friend of mine suggested the word of the year and last year that word was “grow”. I did grow. I grew and changed and have a different view of the world. I am more relaxed in my parenting even though we went through some crisis this year that brought me to my knees. I have a closer relationship with God and spent the last 12 months reading my Bible every single day. In fact, by June I was getting out my Bible twice a day and now I pull it open often. I did not market that book I wrote and published, but it isn’t lost. It is a reminder, though, that I was keeping myself very safely in my comfort zone and promoting my work was difficult for me. I didn’t complete another fiction novel but did have conversations with a publishing company about the novel I completed last year. I could go on. I had cleaning goals (reached), relationship goals (not reached), and parenting goals (iffy). Resolutions are a shot in the wind. After all, only God knows exactly what we are going to face in the next 12 months. He knows what we will be up against in the next 52 weeks. He has a plan for each of the 365 days to come. I didn’t know that I would speak at a conference this year or that Micaela would start having seizures. I didn’t know that my husband would love his new job. I didn’t know that running would bring me physical health and mental peace. Resolutions might be simply lofty goals, but they are powerful. When we make a resolution we must first evaluate ourselves and our lives. Identifying problems or areas that need growth is the first step toward change. However, when we give ourselves a goal, we must also place that same hope in God’s hands. We must accept whatever He has in store for us. If you are considering making some changes in 2018, I suggest you go through the process of first evaluating your life and then creating resolutions that are powerful and, with God, can re-order your world. These worksheets are a fun and easy way to work through the process. Download them here and enjoy. For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Have you ever benefited from setting resolutions in the past? Has God’s hand in your life left a powerful imprint on your own personal growth?
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