Unveiling

“A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work.” – Ecclesiastes 2:24

^“But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:16-18

Another year has begun and I find myself very relieved that the holidays are over. However, I feel like I have to brace myself for the cold, bitter and lonely January. I will be looking forward to the spring sun just like anyone else. Also, resolving to lose those extra pounds and more that I’ve gained over the holidays and past years. Yet, I am trying to go through this year reflecting on the past year in gratitude. I want to challenge myself even more but give credit to how far I’ve come since last January. Who knows, maybe I’ll write a book.

As I begin this year, I’ve been thinking a lot about my present suffering and how it has been transforming me. I’ve been reevaluating so many things I do in my life, one being the Christmas celebration. I need to figure out a comfortable way to celebrate next year because this year I was very uptight about how Santa and Christmas trees fit into a Nativity scene. Along with that, I want to focus on how each week of my life last year had significant impact on the person that I am and who I’m becoming. I feel this year is going to be even bigger than last and I don’t want to forget about the present as I’m reflecting on the long, hard year that has past.

First things first, this year I will be looking in anticipation for my new home come February. That should be exciting. I hope that it will be a huge opportunity to live in community and to have freedom to explore my career options. Not that I don’t enjoy working where I work now, I just don’t feel like I’m coming alive there. I want to find greater satisfaction and more purpose with what I do. Don’t get me wrong though I’m definitely trying to be focused on the little moments there. It’s hard sometimes but it is very rewarding when I do have good reflection of my every move as I offer life saving actions, gentle swaddling and deep, thoughtful prayers for the lives I come in contact with. I’m just looking for what God wants me to do next.

As I seek to find what God wants me to do next, I know it will be full of hard decisions but great rewards. I want to be more intentional about all I do in life and I want to reflect more of Christ through my actions and words. I want to continue on this road to greater love, of God, self and others. In this, I hope to increase the beauty of my confidence knowing that my beauty comes by reflecting trust in Jesus and the love he has to offer. I want to get ever more comfortable in this way of living so that I want less and less of human desires that make me venture back into my old world. Although this old world is familiar, it’s destructive and I want to keep building on this awesome foundation God slammed down last January. Even though I’m far from the ultimate unveiling of my new self, I want to be able to invite people into some of the parts of myself that are livable and newly renovated. I’m excited that I’m finally coming together.