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12 journal prompts that make it easy (and almost painless) to review the past year and then look forward to a new year. I’ve even created a pdf that you can download and complete. You’ll see that the year is blank so you can use it over and over again – year after year.

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It is usually early January before I give any thought to a word for the year.  There’s just too much going on before, during and after Christmas for me to have any time for deep thoughts and planning for a...

Here’s the interesting thing that I hope might help a reader or two (because that’s probably how many I have 🙂)  While I did use these resources to set several specific business goals, I found the process to be even more helpful in my personal life.  Oh, how I wish I had found these Power Sheets many years ago!

According to Proverbs 16:9, It may or may not look like I imagine it to be.  In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps. However, that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t plan or consider what I want.  

God knew He would need to raise His voice a little to get my attention and coax me to follow my dream rather than hang onto something safe.  Have you ever been there?  It is never easy to let go of that branch and put your feet down somewhere new.

Things are a-changing, so it’s best to have a plan. I have several things in mind to help me survive the impending empty nest and think it fitting to write them here – if for no other reason, than a “note to self.”  If any of them help or challenge or inspire someone else, then all the better.

This, people, is the essence of a lasting marriage – knowing that you will remain together until death separates you.  Once you have both settled this in your heart and mind, you can go about making a happy life together despite the difficulties, struggles, disagreements, and strife that will inevitably come your way. 

I am in love and inAWE of the countless ways God has blessed me with fresh, clean, new beginnings.  I pray I will make the most of each one and enjoy them in the way that He intended. And may that be my attitude even when it is mid-January or the end of May.  It doesn’t matter because thanks to God’s grace, ANY time is a good time to start anew.

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This series has also shed light on how inadequate I can be at loving God, myself and others well; and yet in His kindness, he has reminded me that His grace is more than enough to allow me to mess up, try again, mess up, try again – over and over and over.

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If we love ourselves too much, then arrogance and pride can sneak into our hearts.  What I believe God wants for us is holy confidence with humility; knowing that all we are is because of who God made us to be. 

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So let’s explore some ways we can live out the greatest command as spoken by Jesus in Mark 12:30: “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”

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This past Sunday our minister defined love as “actively seeking the highest good of the one who is loved.” Holy lightbulbs, Batman!  I love that.  It makes the concept of love so much easier for me to visualize and implement.  I’m sharing it in hopes that it will be a lightbulb moment for you as well.

The best sermon I received in a very long time wasn’t presented to me in a church building. In fact, I didn’t hear it – not a word was spoken. This was a sermon that I needed to see. It was a grace from God, a gift of love from the One who knows me better than I know myself.