That Thing I Do Now -vol 77

Happy New Year!

Sure... I thought of taking a week off because - well, the holidays and who has time to read anything else... but then I thought, maybe that is EXACTLY what we all need! An excuse to sip on something yummy and browse through some posts to unwind and get back a sense of normal -even if just for a few moments!

Featured today are posts by Jennifer Dukes Lee, Emily Freeman (and seriously - check out the link up! It is filled with great posts!), John Pavlovitz, Lisa Jo Baker, Emily Wierenga, a post from right here... and - of course - a video over at Logan Wolframs place!

Happy Reading! 
(Ya'll know to click on the authors' names to read their whole posts, yes?)

* This post by Jennifer Dukes Lee with The One Resolution that Can Change Your Year … and Your Life...

"Before I flip the page on the calendar, the New Year reminds me of promises I made last year. And broke. Rosy self-promises can shatter into a thousand, metal-gray shards, weeks before the groundhog checks his shadow.

You know the ones–

How you promised to read the Bible in the year, but only made it 2 Kings. How you vowed to lose ten pounds but gained five. You may have even written it all down, making your pen a chisel. And a desperate prayer. How you wanted to write a book, run a 5K, serve meals to the lonely every week. 

God knows you tried hard, but life happened, and February came, and there were all these piles of dishes and laundry, and a parent who got sick, and legitimate excuses, and a teenage son who slams doors too hard, and too many restless nights staring at the slow whir of a ceiling fan.

And where did that list go again?"

* This post by Emily Freeman with 20 Things I Learned in 2014... 
"At the end of every month here at Chatting at the Sky, I like to share what I’ve learned over the past 30 days. But since it’s also the end of the year, I decided to extend this invitation to include a year-long round up."


* The Link-up over at Chatting at the Sky for Let's Share What We Learned in 2014...


* This post from John Pavlovitz with The Year That Wasn’t (A New Years Resolution For All The Surprised)...
"The work I’d planned on didn’t turn out to be the dream job I’d been assured it would be.
The people I expected to be my closest friends quickly became virtual strangers.
The money I’d counted on to keep my family comfortable suddenly evaporated.
I’d been rejected, and shunned, and maligned.

And for a little while, I found myself lost and disoriented in disappointment and sadness, wondering where the path back to the to the dream year I’d planned was.

Soon it became clear: That dream is dead. That path has been paved over. 

I had the choice of either dying along with that dream, getting paved over with that path, or I could keep dreaming and keep walking.

So I chose the latter."


* This post by Lisa-Jo Baker with The Only New Year's Resolutions I Think Are Actually Worth Making...
"I guess I’m not really a one word kind of girl. My husband can testify to that. I like ALL the words. And I use a lot of them on a daily basis.

So when I was thinking about this next year and all of us wondering and worrying what it might hold, a whole lot of words tumbled out of me. Feel free to take the ones that speak to you as your own, friends. Because you are dearly loved here and I can’t believe we’re starting year seven of our time together."

* This one by Emily Wierenga with To Those Who Diet After Christmas...
"I’m far from those eating disorder days, yet not as far as I thought.

I’ve got two boys now, and I know they’re watching me. I’ve got a husband who loves my curves, yet when the pants grow snug, I feel less-than.

And I immediately make plans to cut back in January, because it’s the magical month, isn’t it, ladies? The month to get back into shape? The month to reclaim that size six dress, to purge for all of December’s sins?

Diet pill companies love January. Commercials full of men and women lamenting their size, and none of it’s about health — it’s all about the bottom dollar, and meanwhile, we’re losing our sons and daughters to the industry. The message of Bethlehem forgotten.

Girls as young as four years old are dieting because mommy and daddy are complaining about their “Christmas rolls” and the damage of holiday excess lasts year long.

We can celebrate, yes, but let’s teach our girls and boys how to do it with grace. Let’s show compassion towards ourselves when we eat too many chocolates because we are human.And let January be a month of forgiveness. What better way to start the New Year?"


* This one from right HERE with my annual New Year's Day post...
"I started this years ago, in the wee early hours of the brand new year.  The house is still festive from all the holiday fun but it's quiet... peaceful... a bit emptied out after all is unwrapped, and yet brimming with hope for what is still to come!  

So, as is the routine, I grab a cup of coffee, a blanket, my Bible and a journal, and I meet with God all cozied up on my couch on New Years Day.  It's just us two... (or 4, because Those Guys always travel in 3!)

I spend a little time praising Him, thanking Him and counting gifts and then I get down to the task at hand:  I reflect over the last year and how the prophetic word or phrase played out.  Next, I ask Him each year, on this - the first day, for a prophetic word or phrase as well as a book in the Bible that will be significant in the year to come.  He is faithful to meet me and to give me insight in reflecting back, and a glimpse into what lies ahead..."

Lastly, we like to wrap This Thing up with a video... and since ya'll know my love of books and it's the first of the New Year, how could I not hook you up with this little teaser? Enjoy this book proposal from my friend Logan Wolfram... CLICK to watch video

                

Happy Weekend, my friends!