New Beginnings
For the first time in 2020, I think we can finally all agree on one thing: we are happy to see 2020 close out! Although not all of 2020 was bad, we as humans have the tendency to notice “the bad” quicker than “the good”. We can’t seem to help it, it is just our nature. As I look back over the year, I realize that God has shown himself to us in many real ways; he has provided for us, he has healed us and he has been with us every step of the way. All of these things have always been true of God, but we haven’t necessarily needed to notice them maybe as much as we have this year. As 2021 begins, I want to focus more on the good than I do the bad.
Everyone has New Year resolutions, we make them and the majority of them we break a few weeks into the new year. I want this year to be different. I want to be intentional about focusing on the blessings of God and make it a habit to see the good in any given situation. Like anything else, it will take some time and a conscious effort on my part to train my brain and heart to see the good first. The bad will always be there (until The Lord returns) but I want to see the good first.
A few weeks back, I went into the store and saw a beautiful plant. I had recently gotten a planter from my parents and thought that would be the perfect plant to place in my new pot. I brought the plant home and was so excited to see it in the pot. It looked beautiful and matched perfectly. I didn’t even know what kind of plant it was, I just knew it was pretty and I liked it. A few days went by and I kept smelling something. I finally realized it was my new plant. I decided to look it up online and find out if I had gotten a bad plant or if they all stunk. The article online called it a “very fragrant flower”, well that fragrance is not delightful! Sadly, I had to throw the flower away and my pot was empty again. As I looked at it on the porch, dirty and empty, I was reminded of how many times we fill ourselves with things that we think are good for us: relationships, hobbies, many different things. Then, we have to clean ourselves out and start fresh. This year I want to start fresh, I want to start seeing things with different eyes. I want to move on from the negative parts of 2020, yet learn from them and look for great things in 2021! As the song writer says,
“You've got to accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In Between
You've got to spread joy up to the maximum
Bring gloom down to the minimum
Have faith or pandemonium
Liable to walk upon the scene
To illustrate his last remark
Jonah in the whale, Noah in the ark
What did they do
Just when everything looked so dark
Man, they said we better
Accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative”
Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”
- Lauren Mooneyham
Everyone has New Year resolutions, we make them and the majority of them we break a few weeks into the new year. I want this year to be different. I want to be intentional about focusing on the blessings of God and make it a habit to see the good in any given situation. Like anything else, it will take some time and a conscious effort on my part to train my brain and heart to see the good first. The bad will always be there (until The Lord returns) but I want to see the good first.
A few weeks back, I went into the store and saw a beautiful plant. I had recently gotten a planter from my parents and thought that would be the perfect plant to place in my new pot. I brought the plant home and was so excited to see it in the pot. It looked beautiful and matched perfectly. I didn’t even know what kind of plant it was, I just knew it was pretty and I liked it. A few days went by and I kept smelling something. I finally realized it was my new plant. I decided to look it up online and find out if I had gotten a bad plant or if they all stunk. The article online called it a “very fragrant flower”, well that fragrance is not delightful! Sadly, I had to throw the flower away and my pot was empty again. As I looked at it on the porch, dirty and empty, I was reminded of how many times we fill ourselves with things that we think are good for us: relationships, hobbies, many different things. Then, we have to clean ourselves out and start fresh. This year I want to start fresh, I want to start seeing things with different eyes. I want to move on from the negative parts of 2020, yet learn from them and look for great things in 2021! As the song writer says,
“You've got to accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In Between
You've got to spread joy up to the maximum
Bring gloom down to the minimum
Have faith or pandemonium
Liable to walk upon the scene
To illustrate his last remark
Jonah in the whale, Noah in the ark
What did they do
Just when everything looked so dark
Man, they said we better
Accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative”
Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”
- Lauren Mooneyham
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