New Year and A New Goal
By Sarah Peickert (Greensboro, North Carolina)
I love the New Year with all the hope it brings. Setting new goals for my
relationship with God, my life, my family, church and more...is how I
started each year. Yet, after a few years of making goals for everything, I realized
that usually sometime in January and February I would begin to lose joy and
faith that I could keep up the goals I set. In my mind I explained my failure
away. I would tell myself that I didn’t have the best conditions to start my
goal.
The Spirit helped me to see that with kids, a husband, two jobs and a busy
life, like us all, having a page full of goals was a recipe for disaster. One goal
was all I could handle. It would need to be a simple phrase or word. I would
study it out, put a few scriptures with it, meditate on it, and for 365 days
work on change. I made a bracelet as a daily reminder to stay on task.
Since 2003 I have been putting this “one-goal goal” into practice. It has
been inspiring and fulfilling to see how God has helped change to happen.
I’m not stressed or bummed about my goal(s), but faithful. One word + 365
days = Totally Doable.
Our ministry here in Greensboro, North Carolina, has practiced the “one-goal
goal” for the last seven years. In fellowship throughout the year you can see
others wearing their bracelet word. You know what to pray about for them
and it is a great way to have deep conversations. You can hear how God has
helped them overcome and given them insights and victories. Some of the
words and phrases I have used over the years are:
Believe the Best, Remember, See God, Perspective, Listen, Lose, Courage,
and Gratitude. This year my word is Deeper.
In January 2019, we took this idea—and the bracelet-making—to a local
community group and it has become a wonderful outreach that they love.
They have asked us to come back in 2020 too.
So if you find yourself feeling overwhelmed with all of the goals you want to
focus on in the New Year, try stopping and choosing just one and see what
God will do!
1 Comments
Jun 24, 2021, 6:51:43 AM
Eileen Peterson - Lyme disease and coinfections tasks my body and mind in so many ways making it difficult to focus and to remember goals. This resonates deeply and puts a doable format before me. I look forward to putting it into practice. Thank you so much for your encouragement.