As the end of the year approaches, I often think about the good and bad things that happened during the year. Too often, I glance over the good things instead of savoring them and think more about the bad. Then the questions flood in of why and how did it happen and what should I have done.
I want to try and be different this year. I want to savor the good moments. I want to think about them, remember how and why they happened and see if I can duplicate or improve on them. I want to enjoy the happiness and smiles the memories bring back. I will also spend a little time on the not-so-good things and spend time in prayer. I will ask God to help me improve, to learn from my mistakes, to move on and not linger on them and, I will ask God to help me eyes fixed on Heaven, not on the past.
As my children grow and they wrestle with their insecurities, I see now more than ever the need to focus on the future, to put my trust in what can happen and not what did happen. I will look try to remember the lessons of the past while looking forward.
It's nothing new. Our God is like that. His Word reminds of mistakes of the past but His eyes are on our future. He makes us new everyday. He forgives the past and throws it away prompting us to only think of Heaven, to focus on the life we can have because of His son.
That's my goal for 2006, to look to the future, to look to Heaven, to focus on the gift I have through Jesus.