For this next year my goals have become clearer with regard to my professional life. As a friend of mine said, after I enlisted her prayers, “it sounds like you have clarity.”  2015 has been a very eventful year. I completed my Bachelors degree in psychology and began a graduate program. We have two new grandchildren, Brayden and Azalea and are expecting a new one in fall of 2016. We celebrated our 27th wedding anniversary with a dream trip to Maui. Finally and perhaps of most significance, we purchased a piece of ground to build our retirement home. God has been so very good to us and truly we are blessed.

2016 enters with some  leftover issues from 2015. Specifically, finishing and doing hard things.  Hard things like sticking with health habits or developing the discipline of writing regularly. Relationships have also been caught up in this character flaw, things like writing cards of encouragement or following through on commitments. My home has suffered as well and there are some areas of discipline that need to be added to my hard things list. I could beat myself up fairly well in this area but I want to share my epiphany or what the Holy Spirit is teaching me.

In Colossians 3:12-17, Paul admonished and encourages with these words.

 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness and patience . . . forgiving each other.. . And above all these put on love… let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts . . . be thankful . . and whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God . . .

Two things that will help me Do Hard Things . . .

1. Allow the peace of Christ to rule or be the arbitrator of my heart. It is a choice to surrender to a certain God the places of uncertainty.
2. Be thankful – Recovery teaches me that hardship is the pathway to peace.

All the issues that are leftovers from 2015 are hard things I did not practice the two things above. Will you join me in Doing Hard Things?

2016, by God’s grace, will have Ebenezers of  grace
to celebrate!