Momentum

One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much...     Luke 16:10a ESV

New year.  Fresh start. Opportunity.

January 1 signifies for me another opportunity to do and to be what God has created me to do and to be.

I don't want to waste it.

The new year always leaves me a bit introspective.  I revisit the previous year's wins and losses.  2025 brought both, but the losses are what I'm most keenly aware of this morning...

Grief is a funny thing.  About the time you think you're past it, a new wave rolls in.  Sometimes it just tickles your toes to remind you that it's there.  Other times it knocks you off your feet, leaving you soaked and trying to find your footing again.  I'm somewhere in the middle of that spectrum this morning.

I'm remembering the special people we lost last year, and there's a melancholy that comes with that.  Some memories are threatening to leak out as tears even as my mind is telling me, "You don't have time for that!"  Even now, as I'm trying to claim a few more minutes of quiet solitude before the reality of caring for five kids fully sets in for the day, I'm coaching myself to save those thoughts for later.

That's just a reality of life.  Sometimes, things have to wait.

But emotions don't always surface at convenient times.  And while I may say I'll revisit those thoughts later on, the truth is that I'm more likely to just suppress the emotions and hope they'll just go away. 

They won't.

But with any luck, they'll take a pause while I deal with the tasks of the day.

For now, I just wanted to take a few minutes to try to encourage you in this new year.

About 11:30 last night I completed my last year's read through the Scriptures.  I've been speed reading through the New Testament for the past few weeks because I somehow got very behind on my reading plan.  I could have just stopped, taken it as a "good effort," and planned to just try again. I could have simply continued and finished when I finished. 

But I really wanted both experiences: the satisfaction of completion and the fresh start.

I have a lot of unfinished things in my life.  I'm an expert at failing to follow through.  I'm great with ideas.  I'm a good starter.  But I'm so bad at finishing!

I tend to begin things with great energy and optimism and imagination, when I actually begin things.  The truth is, at times, even getting started can be a challenge.  But once started, I really do tend to make a good start.  Like that book I started writing five years ago that remains about 2/3 done...  Or the one I started working on for my grandson's first birthday (that one was supposed to be the beginning of a series)... Or the one that I actually started illustrating nearly four years ago (it's about an elephant)...  Or the one...  Anyway, there's a lot!

I get really frustrated with myself about this tendency of mine to leave projects unfinished.

Which is part of what's been on my mind over these first few days of 2026 (it's been WIDE OPEN since I started this post!).  Amidst the huge collection of ideas I have for things I would like to do in the days and weeks ahead, there remains this list of things that I'd really like to finish before taking on something new.

And as I'm sitting here this morning trying to remember the heart of what I set out to write the other day, my mind is kind of blank.  

I did finish last year's Bible reading plan - at around 11:30 New Year's Eve.  I started this year's reading, and, so far, I'm still on track.  Right now it just feels like a bit of "just going through the motions."  And I'm okay with going through the motions when that's all I've got.  After all, the alternative is to NOT go through the motions, which, from my perspective, feels even worse.  

But I really do want more.  I want energy and passion and growth and zeal.  And I want depth and intimacy and vision.

And so, moving into this new year, I'm not going to cease going through the motions.  I'm choosing to trust that as I go through the motions, spending time in the Word, maintaining those basic spiritual habits, momentum will build.  As one of my pastors was fond of noting, "It's easier to steer a moving vessel."

So let's get moving and keep moving, with a loose grip on the wheel.  I'm curious to see where my good God may steer me in 2026.

It's really not much, but, after all, it's...

Just a thought...