We are 43 days away from the start of a new year. Let that sink in that’s just a little over a month away. There’s always a lot of anticipation when a new year is coming but there can also be a lot of discouragement & disappointment. For the past couple years I’ve made the habit of writing down a list of goals on January 1st. I spend time on December 31st going over the goals from the previous year & evaluating how I did with them. Here’s where discouragement can kick in. You might be sitting here thinking ‘oh, my gosh the new year is so close & I’ve failed at this’, or ‘I haven’t even started to do this.’ I want to say something to you, it’s never too late to start. You can start right now if you want you just have to make the decision to do it. I also want to encourage you not to give up, it’s easy when things don’t work out exactly the way we want to, to just stop altogether. Don’t be discouraged & don’t give up. I had a goal this year to spend more time songwriting I can count on my hand the number of times I actually sat down at the piano over the past year, but I’ll still write it down as a goal next year. I wanted to learn Korean this year, I had this goal that by November I’d be able to hold a conversation. I’m not there yet, but I refuse to give up even if it takes more time than I originally thought.
This applies to anything in your life that you’re working on, maybe it’s not your New Year’s Resolutions maybe it’s school, or a new hobby, whatever it is I want to encourage you to not give up. Trust & enjoy the process, things don’t always go exactly the way we planned, but it’s never too late to start & nothing is ever too far gone to give up on. I hope you feel encouraged by this & maybe you’ll start that thing you’ve really wanted to do.
But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.
2 Chronicles 15:7
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Galatians 6:9
The secret of our success is that we never, never give up.
Wilma Mankiller
She Laughs Mission 