Thursday, January 01, 2009

New Day

It's a new day
Oh, it's a new time
And there's a new way
I'm going to live my life
All the old has passed away
And the new has come
Thank God it's a brand new day
--Avalon

I wrote a 2008 ramble/reflection not too long ago, but I feel compelled to write some New Year's resolutions in here. I can only hope that I will stick to these resolutions. I may be a realist, but maybe I'm an idealist as well. Is it possible to be both? I've always been idealistic, but I tell myself to focus on reality so my feet don't lift off the ground and my head won't get stuck in the clouds. It happens.

Romans 5:4
"And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. "

Why do we make resolutions? If I choose to be cynical, I can wonder why we make resolutions because there's this high probability that we're going to fail to accomplish any of them. But like I wrote in my previous entry, I am a realist, not a cynic. It is not cynical to be realistic, and realistically speaking, there is the high chance that our resolutions will not be accomplished. But are we perfect? We're certainly not, though many people in this world wish they were, or even believe they are.

But making resolutions signifies that we are people of hope, aren't we? We hope that we can resolve our issues through these promises that a new year brings. Even when problems plague our lives, even when difficulties arise, many are secretly optimists in a world of brokenness. As long as we place our hope in Him, then we will not be disappointed. As Romans 5:4 says above, God has poured out His love onto us, and His love is patient and kind, and it never fails.

1 Corinthians 13:13
"Now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love."

1) Do my DTs consistently. When I say consistently, I mean every day. Devotional time was a concept that took a good while to get into my system. Thanks to the accountability of my leaders and small group sisters, it's integrated into my schedule, but I still struggle. Sometimes I neglect my devotionals, and I can certainly feel the difference between when I do my DT and when I don't. Reflecting in my DT journal, reading His Word, and praying are key to my spiritual walk, so I pray that I can be faithful and consistent in my DTs in this year.
2) Spend more time with my sisters. I've always valued friendship. In high school, I understood the importance of friendship because I realized that God blessed me with friends to keep me grounded in life. But I never experienced deep and true unconditional love and understanding through friendship until I became closer to my small group sisters as well as my roommate. It wasn't until 2008 that I realized how important fellowship is in a person's spiritual walk with God. God has blessed me with sisters in Christ to share my spiritual journey, and I pray that He will continue to strengthen our sisters' relationships in this new year.
3) Serve Him obediently, lovingly, and faithfully. What I mean by this resolution is that I wish to continue to serve Him not only through Acts2Fellowship Gold and Joyland, but also through my relationships with my sisters, peers, friends, and family. I hope and pray that He will grant me strength, wisdom, patience, courage, and love so that I may be a woman of character and a pillar of strength in my relationships. I pray that I may be a better daughter, sister, friend, student, and person.
4) Do my best in school. Academics is an area that I've struggled with all my life in many different ways. I remember at Junior Discipleship Retreat over the summer, one of my peers stood up and said (more or less), "God blessed us with this education at Berkeley and we should be stewards of it." How right my peer was, and how apathetic I was to this blessing! I was ashamed of my neglect, and it was a wake-up call for me to throw off my apathy and once again, be serious about school. The difference now? To not be consumed by my academics as I was before I turned to apathy for those few months. I would love to write a resolution about getting straight A's, but really...I don't think so. I'll stick with realism and maybe be a pessimist for this one.
5) Read more Christian books. I'm hoping to start the New Year by reading Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis, which I received in the mail not too long ago. I'm also hoping to read more books to strengthen the intellectual portion of my faith, for I understand that a lot of times I'm very into feeling and not as much thinking. I am an INFJ, and my 'F' is incredibly strong. I'm looking for some balance in the foundation of my faith, and reading more Christian books to help with my intellectual (spiritual) convictions will be a good starting point. I also hope to finally read The Problem of Pain (which I've had for awhile, but had serious trouble reading it), The Abolition of Man, and reread The Four Loves (which I enjoyed reading, but seriously needs a reread).
6) Read the newspaper. I read the newspaper...sometimes. Usually I read it when I'm forced to in some way (class, parents, etc.). So I hope that I can at least skim headlines online at The New York Times web site or The Wall Street Journal site every day. While I place a secondary value on worldly knowledge, it is important to keep up with the news, especially with so much going on internationally and economically.
7) Exercise consistently. Yes, I wrote this. I need to exercise consistently because every semester, I start off with my RSF pass (and I should take advantage of its cheap price), and I go to the gym twice a week, and then what happens? Easy to guess. Last semester, I was actually pretty good with going to Abs & Back twice a week...and then midterms hit and I failed. I would like to actually continue going to the RSF, whether for the elliptical, Cardio Kickboxing, and/or Abs & Back even when midterms hit. Exercise is important and our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19)...I should take better care of mine.

So with all of these resolutions in mind...the one most important is this: to continue to grow in Him, and to be faithful to Him, to serve Him and love as He loved us first.

I'm excited for 2009. Gracepoint Live....Winter Retreat...school...fellowship...and growing closer to Him.

2 comments:

Chanhee said...

Hey Kelly! Its Chanhee! I found your blog through Jenny's. I just wrote about Avalon's New Day song in my blog too haha. And another crazy coincidence, my New Year's resolutions are like identical to yours. Crazy. I swear I'm not stalking you. We should go to Abs and back together because I need to go too!! Ok that sounds even more stalkerish...

Jenny said...

Yay for resolutions! Good ones Kelly!

Dude, Four Loves is next on my reading list, and i'm finishing up Mere Christianity! You can totally borrow "Captivating" when we get back to Berkeley! I'm bringing all my books up so ppl can borrow them and we can all enjoy reading toghetherrr! yay haha (well what we can of it during schooltime haha)

Good luck on your resolutions, and happy new years!!
And haha to Chanhee's comment, i totally saw that u two had the same song haha :D good song. ok bye now!