Dear January

I don’t know about you, but for me, January gets a little complicated. There’s the festivities and the hustle and bustle of New Year’s parties, and then there’s the New Year’s resolutions of losing 10 pounds and adding this 8 step morning routine and hitting the gym 7 days a week and drinking an insane amount of water and quitting a bad habit and the list just continues for days. Social media gets cluttered with lofty resolutions and what’s in and what’s out. Accomplishments from the previous year are shouted and new markers of success are declared. And guess what? Those are ALL. GOOD. THINGS. But what about those of us that didn’t check all of our success boxes? What about those of us that just survived? You feel it too? 

So much can change in a year. But, if you are in the hard season right now, I want you to hear me say – there is more. There is more to be discovered in this season and I pray it leads you right to Jesus. He is the more your heart is longing for. He is the hope you are trying to grasp. He is the future you desperately want. 

I chose the word “cultivate” for the year 2023. I entered the year processing big emotions. It was as if I knew this was the letting go of the old script and accepting this new season with open arms. Like I was acknowledging that little girl and all she had been through while simultaneously shedding the old identity and owning this new season. I knew it was a big year, and I longed for alignment and clarity in my goals and actions. I worked hard to create an honest dialogue between myself and my ‘self talk’ in order to break the cycles that kept me from moving forward. It became vital to slow down, stop rushing, and really start to consider the life I was creating. 

I started and left my “dream job” all at the start of the year. I re-evaluated what “dream job” meant to me. I looked at where I was placing my identity. I set more boundaries around the areas I noticed I was struggling to believe the truth. I leaned into Jesus and into more conversation with Him. I read books. I continued therapy. I invested in my health. I invested in my marriage. I celebrated the season I was living in. 

None of those things were decided on January 1st.

Here’s a few things I’ve learned about January:

January is NOT the only month to take a life inventory and set goals for your future. 

January is NOT the only month to decide to take care of your health.

January is NOT the only month to declutter your home. 

January is NOT the only month to make a budget.

January is NOT the only month. Because, what if you didn’t have to have it all figured out by January 1st. What if you’re thrown a curve ball on January 10th. What if you’re entering a new season and everything feels new and unknown? Over the past few years, I have reframed my perspective of January. 

What if January was more about slowing down, reflecting, and becoming. 

What if January was more about identifying what worked and what didn’t work well.

What if January was more about setting intentions and boundaries that align with your values. 

What if January was more about discovering. 

Every year, when January rolls around, I go back to January 2018 and I write that sweet girl a letter. The length, the tone, and the message of that letter has changed every year. This year marked six years – six years of breaking, of unlearning, of learning again, of evolving, of becoming. I feel an awakening inside my bones, a beautiful story of grace. I felt the shift last year, but it is growing; and I feel a bigger purpose, a greater calling, and a fire burning deep inside my soul. 

And my prayer for you is that you won’t get lost in the pain of today, but rather you will find God and the good future He has for you. I hope you will choose to move forward and create a beautiful life that simply reflects the goodness of God. I hope you will live from a place of security and a depth of love you’ve never known before because you know whose you are and you wholeheartedly believe in that identity. I hope you will open your heart to His great, sustaining love and truly believe you are more than the sum of what has been done to you. I truly believe that the hard things can become the holy things that make God so evident in our story. 

And if you feel yourself getting lost in the past, here’s a little something that has helped me stay present.