And Now...

A shiny new year stands before us,
full of what-ifs and maybes, hellos and open doors.

The old year may have been exquisitely beautiful.
It may have been painful or frustrating or full of failure.

Today is a fresh chance to leave the bad in the past,
stepping into a new promise.

A promise to forgive ourselves for what we didn't accomplish,
to forget what was done to us, to move beyond our doubts,
to invite freedom and grace and gratitude to walk beside us each day.

To carry the beauty, and allow the pain to forge and refine.

Its a brand new horizon.

Go forward, and with me, embrace grace.

Forward

So much of this past year has been hard, uncertain, left unfinished. Dreams yet to be fulfilled, goals put off for yet another year, visions of peace marred by the incursions of sadness, anxiety, frustration. I found myself this past week, as I lay on the couch fighting a fever that lasted for days, wishing I could have just one more month to get everything in order before the New Year started. As if the turning of a digit cared one whit for my to-do list.

I wanted to feel closure, accomplishment, a happy resolution to 2013.

Then I read this post on Ann Voskamp's blog (go ahead, click the link and go read it, I'll wait right here).

"How in the world do you step hopeful into the next year when you tripped messy through the last year? How do you stand brave with all the smiling rest and ring in the new year when the old year still feels a bit like a millstone around the neck? What if everyone else is making New Year’s resolutions and you just want New You solutions?"

And so, I let it all go. All of it.
I breathe, long and slow and deep, and with the exhale,
all the things that I've been holding over my own head,
they fly free into the atmosphere.

I'm starting fresh today, with a clean slate, asking with an open heart,
"what do You, who holds the world, hold for me this year?"

"And there’s the utter release of being more grateful for what is than feeling guilty for what isn’t — The moving forward always happening in the relief that all the guilt is covered by His grace."

A Happy, Fresh, Clean-Slate New Year to you all!

What Happens Next

Oh, how I love the feeling of a fresh new year. Especially a new year that is greeted with freshly cleaned and organized closets.

There is still a pile by the door, waiting to be donated. And a few corners that need dusting. And one closet full of stash and crafting supplies that will have to wait for another day.

But otherwise, I have a clean and re-adorned house.

I love that part.

The one time a year that I swap out my regular decor for seasonal is Christmas. The day all of the festive decor comes down, I get a fresh look at all of my usual knick knacks, and re-arrange and tweak them to my heart's delight. Who needs a zen garden when they have things to arrange?

I wandered about outside for awhile yesterday morning, just taking it all in. My yard and gardens still need a good cleaning, but I like them that way. Poised on the edge between old life and the promise of new.

Just like the start of a new calendar year.

And it is going to be a good year, dear readers. I anticipate both sorrows and joys for all of us, but it will be good anyway. Life is beautiful. The Author of life is even more. And this tapestry, woven out of our story lines is intricate and complex and stunning.

I'm ready to see what happens next, are you?