Well, Christmas has now come and gone for another year. Thanks for taking the time to check out my mind and how it relates to the word of God concerning my every-day-walking-around-kind-of-life with Jesus thru most of this year. I started this blog site back in February, and now we are wrapping up 2021.
Carmen and I are here back at the same little cabin in Indiana on 39 acres with 120 acres of farmland completely surrounded by a Nature Preserve and McCormick’s Creek running through the property. I like to get some writing done while we are here for the week. It’s that kind of place.
Blogging This Past Year
Over this past year, I’ve gained a little traction on my posting. Thanks to you and others, this site has been viewed (and hopefully blogs read) in over 600 cities in 35 countries. My hope is that many others will be inspired to seek Jesus as their Lord and Savior. That they would begin that everyday-walking-around-kind-of-life with Him.
Year End Thoughts
So my thoughts on wrapping up 2021, or any year for that matter. Really in my mind, there is no reason to wait until the end of the year to wrap things up. We should continually be moving forward. And, if things need to change, why wait until the end of the year, or when the new year starts? But since the moment is at hand, let’s look at some things we can either bring to an end or get started on.
Be Better At Being You
First and foremost, when the year comes to an end, I think most of us feel that we could have done better. I would say we could all come up with a time or two where we missed it. I like to think of it this way – you need to get better at being you! That’s priority #1. You can’t help others be better if you’re not.
Do you want to help your family be better, you be better. Want to help your business be better, you be better. Want to help your employer or company or kids or church or <<plug in your people or group here>> be better, then you be better.
What Are Your Strengths?
I’ve shared it before, but I’ll say it again. I recommend CliftonStrengthFinders talent assessment. You can get your top five strengths by doing an assessment for $19.99. Or you can get all 34 strengths assessed for $49.99. I recommend the top five, as those are the core of who you are and a great place to start. Once you know what your top five are, you can focus on becoming better at who God designed you to be. For more, go to Strengthfinders site.
Take those top five strengths of who you are and make that your spiritual goal for 2022. By becoming better at those things, you will be better at being who God designed you to be, thus having a greater impact for the kingdom. I have all kinds of scriptural references related to my strengths. That will once again be a major part of my spiritual goals for 2022.
Wrapping Up 2021
So two things in wrapping up 2021: 1 – Stop trying to be better at who you aren’t – that’s not who you are. 2 – Start being better at who you are – that’s who you are.
2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
That was my focus last year and will be my focus again this year. What will your focus be?
But Before The Year Ends
Good stuff! But let me take a moment in helping you prepare for tomorrow with some fun things you can do today/tonight. First, here’s what Scott and Carmen will do (not that I recommend this):
We have a new year’s eve tradition with some friends – we made it up to be goofy. It’s simple, but fun. Now mind you, other than one New Year’s Eve, we’ve always celebrated with them in Indiana. We hang together through the evening playing some fun games and laughing…a lot, and eating fun snacks!
Then, just before midnight, we peel our shoes and socks off, the countdown to midnight, and then at zero we do a toast and kiss and hug, then we dash out the door into the cold Indiana air (projected temperature is 41 in Indiana which is warm) and through the yard and out to the street, light our fireworks and do high fives, then run back to the house – sometimes there’s snow on the ground. Yep, that’s it! 🙄
Fun Ideas To End The Year
Here are some fun things you can do and a few things that may have a little more meaning:
- Do the big countdown and then follow with a toast Do a meaningful toast or simply a toast to great friends and a fruitful year.
- Kiss your loved one at midnight That assures a full and intimate relationship for the coming year! 😊
- Dance to Auld Lang Syne right after midnight A salute to old friendships and times gone by
- Choose a word of the year. Choose one word that will set the tone for the year. Think of it like a chapter heading for the book that is your life. Print this word out and place it in a part of your room that you will see every day.
- Attend a service or have your own spiritual celebration.Whether it’s a candlelit service at a church or your own time with Jesus.
- Write a letter to yourself.Start a New Year’s Tradition of writing a letter to yourself. Open it the following year on New Year’s Eve. Store it away in a safe place, to be opened at the end of the year.
- Carry out one small act of kindness. Pay the bill for the car behind you in the drive-thru or bring your neighbor a tray of baked cookies. Think of just one way to practice kindness today.
- Make a “remember-lutions” jar. Instead of focusing on goal-oriented New Year’s resolutions, fill a jar with notes about your favorite memories and accomplishments over the course of 2022. It will be fun to go back and read.
- Pick one day each month (i.e. the 20th, or the 3rd Saturday) to make yourself happy.Choose one random day every month to do something that makes you happy — whether it’s treating yourself to a facial or cookies you want to eat (Menchies frozen yogurt for me and Carmen) or an activity you like to do.
- Do a video interview with a loved one. Interview your spouse and/or your kids every New Year. Ask them the same questions, then watch their answers change as they get older. So fun.
Don’t set resolutions (goals) unless you make them SMART and strategic and have a traction plan in place to see it through to fruition. That’s for another post.
Challenge for the remainder of this year:
Until next year, continue to focus on that every-day-walking-around-kind-of-life with Jesus! He has some great things in store for you this next year, I am sure. So for Wrapping Up 2021, so be it!
Bonus Verses for 2022:
Jeremiah 29:11 ESV
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Isaiah 43:18-19 ESV
Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
Ephesians 4:22-24 ESV
To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
Lamentations 3:22-23 niv
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
Job 8:7 niv
Your beginnings will seem humble, so prosperous will your future be.
