6 Things for 2016

This morning when I woke up I couldn’t think of what to write about today. I went through the day and nothing stood out in my mind—except how bummed I am that Christmas break is already over and the family that gathered together is dispersing back to their own corners of the world.

Then it occurred to me that it’s a brand new year. And this is the first Reflection Sunday post of 2016! I’m not one for New Year’s Resolutions. I’ve never set out to make a list of things I want to change about myself in the next year. I’m not opposed to making goals though. And I like lists in general. Lists make it easy to check things off—and they’re easy to look back to.

So maybe I’m about making lists. And maybe I’m about setting goals. I do believe there’s always room for improvement. And maybe if you do those two things together around the first of the year it’s kind of New Year’s Resolution like….

Here are my 6 things for 2016, in no particular order:

1.     Read more. While I was in grad school I read the assigned texts and I wrote the assigned stories. I didn’t do a lot of recreational reading—despite what my professors suggested. I was overwhelmed by my job and my schoolwork and just didn’t take the time to read the books I wanted to read. That’s going to change this year. Later this month I’m going to be launching another page on the blog—Book Review Tuesday. My goal is to read a wide variety of books for different age groups and in different genres. I am drawn to fantasy though, so maybe expect more in that category at first.

2.     Focus on the word: Faithfulness. During the sermon this morning, Pastor Dan said something that struck a chord with me. He said, “If you’re not faithful in the little things, how can God trust you with the big things?” He asked us how our “I will go” gauges were. When I look back at 2015, I was determined to do things my own way in my own time. I need to focus on my own faithfulness at the same time I meditate on God’s faithfulness. I’m probably most excited for the spiritual growth that will come from this.

3.    Be bold in the publishing world. All of my buddies from grad school have been published. And I am thrilled for them—I’m the proudest sister-writer ever. But it’s my turn. I need to get myself in gear and actually be brave enough to send some stories out. They’ll get rejected. But they’ll be picked up eventually. I know it will happen—but it won’t if the stories collect dust in a drawer.

4.     Write more. I also need to continue writing stories to send out to the publishing world. And I need to continue revising past stories. NaNoWriMo helped get me back in the mode to write, but I need to be most consistent. I can be better at this.

5.     Get a new job. This one is hard for me. I love my job. I love working with kids and watching them grow into awesome readers. One of my favorite things is a student returning a book to the library that I recommended and telling me how much he/she loved it. Nothing beats seeing a kid I used to work with, when I was a para educator, tackling a chapter book all by himself. My job at the school was perfect for the season of my life when I needed the summers off for grad school. And I learned a ton from my time there. But now I’m hoping for some independence and one of the puzzle pieces in that search is a job that will be year round and pay back the student loans and rent on an apartment.

6.    Self-sacrifice. I’m hijacking this one. A friend posted on Instagram that her resolution this year wasn’t to work on self-improvement but on self-sacrifice. She has a heart for missions, and I admire that in her. I can be greedy with my time—I think most can relate to that. While I’m meditating on God’s faithfulness, I’ll also be looking for ways I can better serve Him. Even if it hurts and takes away from time I’d like to keep to myself.

Here’s to 2016! I am hopeful that this year will be full of blessings and look forward to what is to come.

Happy New Year!