In a room with about a hundred women, all moms at assorted stages of life, a friend of mine shared Ann Voskamp’s take on New Year’s resolutions and how we should scrap them to just focus on a word each month, while really putting out soul into it. She calls them reSOULutions. The word itself is not really the reSOULution as much as it is a prompt for one. These monthly words are more like an entry point for the month’s goal. Everyone’s entry point is the same, but the ending is individually selected so that it is tailored to the sole it belongs to.
“Because if there’s nothing to aim for, you’ll get it every time.”
The month of January gave us embrace. Nearly everyone chooses to embrace something different from the person next to them. I was at a point where I was conflicted in my commitments. As a result, I was unhappy with some of them, approaching each day without the attitude I should have. When I selected opportunities to complete my custom tailored reSOULution phrase for January, it was in hopes that an opportunity which would fill my heart with gladness would present itself to me. I proclaimed that I would embrace opportunities in January.
The reality of it was that I ended up embracing the opportunities that I already had with a different attitude than I did before. I realized that I am blessed with each opportunity that comes my way. I saw the good in the opportunities that I have which I was taking for granted. I was able to be thankful for each opportunity. Even the bad ones, commonly referred to as temptation. Because when temptation knocks on my door, I am able to slam the door in its face and tell Satan that I am a follower of Christ. That is the opportunity to demonstrate my faith. Sometimes I need help closing that door – and that is where prayer comes in. I know that I need the Lord by my side, and that all I have to do is ask.
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
Philippians 4:13
Even though the opportunity that I wished for when I agreed to embrace opportunities did not present itself, that gave me the opportunity to be patient and enjoy the moment, until the next part of His plan for me reveals itself. After all, it is said that change happens where prayer meets perseverance.
So, while the month is over and some of my friends were anxious to jump onto the next verb and apply their custom self-selected adjective or noun to complete the phrase, I am still embracing every single opportunity. I embrace that I have the opportunity, regardless of my engagement of the opportunity. It has given me a chance to reflect, but even more importantly, it gives me something to pray about.
For those of you who played along with this notion of reSOULutions, as well as the rest of you who are just hearing of the idea now, I would love to hear what you choose to embrace.
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