Thoughts for a New Year
There is just something refreshing about a new year, the opportunity for a clean start. I know that January 1st is no different from December 31st in terms of minutes long; the sun rises and sets as it does on any other day, but there is a sense of expectation: What will the new year hold? Like many others, I find myself making goals for the year ahead.
First, I want to re-prioritize my time with the Lord. With the demands of school and all the other activities that seem to clutter my days, my quiet time has frequently fallen by the wayside. My desire for Christ has somehow gotten smothered by too many other things that are filling up my schedule. This leaves me feeling rather dry, worn out, and grumpy. I know that the main problem is a lack of discipline on my part, so I need to start getting up a bit earlier in order to meet God.
Secondly, I want to become more deeply involved with the refugees that live in this community. We moved here in July, in response to God's tugging on our hearts. Although I enjoy conversations with my neighbors here and there, I don't think that God moved us here for the occasional chat. I'd like to begin helping with an ESL class on campus here once a week, and by the end of the year, I'd really like to have a women's Bible study started at our house. This is going to require greater intentionality on my part.
As I explore opportunities for teaching and ministry with the refugees here, I also need to reevaluate where I am and where God wants me to go within my career. Sometimes I really enjoying teaching at the high school, and sometimes it is just a burden. I've never really expected to teach high school English until retirement--I don't see how anyone can anymore; it's just so exhausting and consuming, but I guess I keep coming back to the classroom because I know that I can always improve upon what I've done in the past--the perfectionist in me probably. I like Brewer; I like most of my students; I like the staff. I do not like the excessive testing, the large class sizes, the stacks of grading I lug home, and the occasional rude and utterly unreasonable teenager. The paycheck is nice. So I put all that on a scale, and I'm not sure what the best decision is. Weighing the pros and cons may not be God's preferred method for decision making anyway. My husband and I are talking and praying about it. I started a master's degree in TESOL this year, which I could continue full time next year with online and summer courses. There are plenty of volunteer and maybe even part-time ESL teaching opportunities available. And if we were to start a family soon...I might very well have plenty to keep me occupied even without a full-time job. But really my main goal shouldn't be to be "happily occupied" but rather joyfully serving wherever God places me.
Finally, I want to invest in meaningful friendships this year. Whenever you move to a new place, it takes some time to build relationships. We have no family here now. My greatest history with anyone beside my husband is a year and a half. That means that there are all these pieces of me that no one else knows--at least initially. That's hard. It's also different building relationships as a married person than it was as a single. It seems a little slower, I guess, because my time is more divided now. We are enjoying the people in our Growth Group at church though. There are a few other residents and wives attending too, and the crossover is nice, as we have multiple things in common. Friendships are coming, but I want to work harder at investing this year.
And in all these things, may I strive for excellence, that God may be glorified: "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31)
First, I want to re-prioritize my time with the Lord. With the demands of school and all the other activities that seem to clutter my days, my quiet time has frequently fallen by the wayside. My desire for Christ has somehow gotten smothered by too many other things that are filling up my schedule. This leaves me feeling rather dry, worn out, and grumpy. I know that the main problem is a lack of discipline on my part, so I need to start getting up a bit earlier in order to meet God.
Secondly, I want to become more deeply involved with the refugees that live in this community. We moved here in July, in response to God's tugging on our hearts. Although I enjoy conversations with my neighbors here and there, I don't think that God moved us here for the occasional chat. I'd like to begin helping with an ESL class on campus here once a week, and by the end of the year, I'd really like to have a women's Bible study started at our house. This is going to require greater intentionality on my part.
As I explore opportunities for teaching and ministry with the refugees here, I also need to reevaluate where I am and where God wants me to go within my career. Sometimes I really enjoying teaching at the high school, and sometimes it is just a burden. I've never really expected to teach high school English until retirement--I don't see how anyone can anymore; it's just so exhausting and consuming, but I guess I keep coming back to the classroom because I know that I can always improve upon what I've done in the past--the perfectionist in me probably. I like Brewer; I like most of my students; I like the staff. I do not like the excessive testing, the large class sizes, the stacks of grading I lug home, and the occasional rude and utterly unreasonable teenager. The paycheck is nice. So I put all that on a scale, and I'm not sure what the best decision is. Weighing the pros and cons may not be God's preferred method for decision making anyway. My husband and I are talking and praying about it. I started a master's degree in TESOL this year, which I could continue full time next year with online and summer courses. There are plenty of volunteer and maybe even part-time ESL teaching opportunities available. And if we were to start a family soon...I might very well have plenty to keep me occupied even without a full-time job. But really my main goal shouldn't be to be "happily occupied" but rather joyfully serving wherever God places me.
Finally, I want to invest in meaningful friendships this year. Whenever you move to a new place, it takes some time to build relationships. We have no family here now. My greatest history with anyone beside my husband is a year and a half. That means that there are all these pieces of me that no one else knows--at least initially. That's hard. It's also different building relationships as a married person than it was as a single. It seems a little slower, I guess, because my time is more divided now. We are enjoying the people in our Growth Group at church though. There are a few other residents and wives attending too, and the crossover is nice, as we have multiple things in common. Friendships are coming, but I want to work harder at investing this year.
And in all these things, may I strive for excellence, that God may be glorified: "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31)
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