January | 2022 | itsawonderfilledlife

Archive for January, 2022

Blurry Focus

Posted in Walking with God, WONDER, tagged #blurryfocus, #changingfocus, #doitlikeidoit, #focusonjesus, #philippians4:8-9, #putitintopractice, #wdjd, #whatever, #whatif, #wwjd on January 7, 2022| Leave a Comment »

I love to look at the stats of what people are reading here at itsawonderfilledlife.

Recently, I have noticed that a post from March of 2020, titled Whatever … has been read frequently over the Christmas season and especially surrounding the new year. It has nothing to do with either, yet, I just had to go back and re-read my words.

The post is about what we think, where we spend our thinking and is focused on Philippians 4:8-9:

” … brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”

hum … maybe this post had more to do with a new year than I had realized.

What was fascinating to me is that I had, personally, been working on controlling my thoughts, changing my focus when my thoughts begin to spiral into fearful ‘what if’ scenarios.

Switching from what if to this, whatever focus of thinking is really good for me.

whatever is :

lovely
true
noble
right
pure
lovely
admirable
excellent
praiseworthy

These nine words of focus are fantastic and I could see how they could be life-changing. But … they are not the end.

“Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice.“

whatever:

learned from me
received from me
heard from me
seen in me

… put it into practice.

“DO IT, like I do it” – Jesus

It is the biblical reality of WWJD (what would Jesus do?), except it is WDJD (what did Jesus do?).

The way Jesus lived, his character, choices, words and prayers … they are our Nike-like slogan for Just Do It … like Jesus did.

He should be our focus … when he isn’t … I am finding that it is then that my focus is blurry.

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Hope Jar

Posted in life, WONDER, tagged #goodthingsahead, #hope, #hopejar, #itreallyisawonderfullife, #lookbackandremember, #lookingbackandsmiling on January 4, 2022| 4 Comments »

Though the new year is days past and many are returning to the regular things of life, my mind has been spinning about an idea I heard.

The thing is, I heard it more than once, from more than one source. The only thing that connects all the sources of this idea is that they were human souls … not lifestyle, not age, not financial wealth (or lack thereof) in common … just a heartbeat …

but … maybe that is because this idea is … primitive, coming from a common human need …

hope.

I think that maybe, in our human rush to pack Christmas away (even before it has ended) we often pack the hope that advent whispered to us in early December. As though it is not in season at any other time.

Yet, hope is always a hot commodity. It is always sought for. Always, always, always, needed.

Because, when the joys of the season pass, when the minimalistic decor that is all the trend leaves us feeling cleaned up of … everything,

we still need hope,

heaps and heaps of

the encouragement, the confidence, the acceptance,

the giggle in our bellies,

the spark in someone’s eyes,

the dream that feels like reality when we awake.

When we awake and feel …

a. l. i. v. e.

unlike ever before.

The feeling, the knowing,

that our every breath is good, and planned and meaningful.

The hope that it gets

better,

but, more than that,

that. we. are. not. alone.

So …

get a jar from your cupboard,

get a bowl from the thrift store, the department store, the designer home store,

and start writing your own news.

This year, start the with an empty jar and fill it with notes about good things that happen, throughout the year. Then, on New Years Eve, 2022, empty it and see what amazing, memorable, joyful, loving things happened this year. I think we might have a New Years filled with good memories and real hope for the future.

you in?

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What I Didn’t Know a Year Ago

Posted in Walking with God, WONDER, tagged #heiswithus, #hismerciesareneweverymorning, #iwillhopeinthelord, #newyears2022, #newyearsday, #standingontheprecipice, #unexpectedsurprises, #whatididntknowayearago on January 1, 2022| 6 Comments »

What I didn’t know a year ago …

The events and happenings and changes that I simply could not have imagined a year ago today.

I think I had thought, in the past, that walking into a new year is like having the double doors open to a large room, but, as I look at this year and all that I could not have imagined, I think it might be more like having hiked up a mountain (a generous description of 2021), only to stand at the precipice unable to see the bottom.

I look at the events of this past year in our own lives and how much we were unaware of, one year ago.

We moved … not just house but whole community. We experienced changes in employment, health, finances, relationships. Things we could not have seen from the high point of a New Years Day. Things that might have had us wondering about leaping into that new year.

I bet I am not alone in this.

There was a moment a couple of months ago, when something unexpected happened. I think if it had happened on January 1, 2021 it might have crushed me/us. But, we had experienced years of surprises (good and bad) and we had to relearn to put our trust in God alone.

So,

when this unexpected surprise was placed in our laps,

my first reaction was

to shrug my shoulders,

to lift my eyes up,

and speak,

out loud,

ok God,

so what are you gonna do with that?

And I realized something … I realized something important, something new … I didn’t let the problem land on my shoulders, not even for a moment … for I knew that God has a plan and He already has a solution. And, even if His solution were to cause discomfort, pain … He won’t leave us alone, but will be with us every step of the way.

The surprises of the last years, the moments of standing at the cliffs, wondering how far we will fall (and how intense the injuries that would be sustained) they have taught me … God has a plan, He is in control, we must rely on Him. That his mercies are new every morning. That He will not abandon us.

And so, as we sit down and look at this clean sheet of a new year …

As we plan and dream and set goals …

May our first goal be to awaken each day, with a fresh commitment to reliance on God.

So that, when the tough stuff happens (and … it will people), we already have the muscle memory to give it straight back to Him.

” … his mercies begin afresh each morning.
I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance;
therefore, I will hope in him!”
The Lord is good to those who depend on him,
to those who search for him.”
Lamentations 3:23-25

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