Christmas and New Year

 Christmas and New Year

Twenty-twenty three has come to a close, and Twenty-twenty four is in full swing! I started to take down the outside decorations at the office but I wanted to give the wisemen a chance to get to the manger. 😁

Why are we so quick to move on? The radio has stopped playing Christmas Music. Family gatherings and gift exchanges are over. The tree, lights and other decorations come down the day after Christmas. It just seems that it was a lot of build up for one day. 

Now we're focused on the new year. New goals, new year, new you. That's usually what we hear. New habits, new diets, new clothes, new looks, new.... 

New is not bad. Jesus said that he came to make all things new. (Revelation 21:5) Yes, in Christ we are new creations. (2 Corinthians 5:17) Do we really want something new, or just a different version of the old? 

New requires the old to die. That's how change occurs. Change happens when the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change. Change is hard. So when staying the same hurts more than the process of change, then I'll do something. 

In July I began a journey to change my lifestyle. Several years of completely ignoring my physical health had led to a gain of over fifty pounds, clothes that don't fit and no energy. Bonnie looked at me in July and basically said, "I'm tired of you begin fat." My words, not hers. Thanks to her encouragement then, and a friend that challenged me in October, I have been on a journey. Thankfully up to this point I have dropped about twenty seven pounds and developed some better habits. I praise the Lord for answering my prayer to have the desire to focus on my health. Note not just my physical health, but my entire health: physical, mental, spiritual and emotional.  

Much like the Christmas Story, it's just a beginning.