Do's and Don'ts and HNY!

Don't Dwell. Do Hope.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2025!

Happy New Year! Did that seem fast? 2024 caused me a little whiplash. How about you?

I am sitting here writing at 11:16pm (in the past) so that you’ll have something when you rise for the new year 2025 (the future!), realizing and remember that just because the calendar has turned and the tradition says that this is the day we start all things anew, it may feel for some that it’s just “tomorrow”. (Or “today”). But I have these thoughts and I hope they will bless the first day of your new year.

Do Forget. Don’t Dwell. Have Hope.

Forget the former things. Do not dwell on the past. Behold, I am doing a new thing. See how it springs up. Do you not perceive it?¹

Maybe you don’t perceive it - yet. But by forgetting the former things and not dwelling on the past or what happened “yesterday” you can have hope that something new is springing up.

Even if you cannot perceive it yet.

Last year at this time I did a fill-in-the-blank series. You can still do that! (If you want me to do that again, a new one, let me know.)

This year I’m feeling Ecclesiastes. You might know it better in a song (to everything/ turn, turn, turn/there is a season/turn, turn, turn…). Read the original below and see if a particular season pops out to you. Maybe it pops out because that’s where you are now and have been in 2024. Maybe another will pop out because that’s where you’re going.

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:

² a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
³ a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
⁴ a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
⁵ a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
⁶ a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
⁷ a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
⁸ a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.²

The thing I always have to remind myself is to sit with it, contemplate and pray. Am I forcing my will upon a season I wish to be so? Or am I being led by the light? Always best to tell yourself the truth. Oh, what a way to start the year with a bang! Tell the truth. Listen to the truth. Go from there.

I know you can do this. You can keep going. It’s a beautiful day to begin.

Dear reader, happy and blessed new year to you.

I am so happy we’re in it together.

PS. Wow I just finished this at 11:58pm. Just in time. Happy New Year.

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POLL TIME!

And now for a poll! Please participate and help me learn where the Little Yellow Bird should fly in the new year. What have you enjoyed most or what would you enjoy next?

1. Isaiah 43:18,19a

2. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8