The Root of Reflection

This post is by Jen Shultz.

December is a time for so many wonderful things. There is an abundance of good will, of togetherness, and the whole world is aglow with twinkling lights, and if we are lucky, a good snowfall to trick us into thinking we are living in a snowglobe. Some days, I think that it would be nice to live in a snapshot in time where only the happiest moment is captured. In a lot of ways, that is a nice thought. In a lot of other ways, it sounds terrible. 

For starters, I don’t know if you have seen the movie Groundhog Day, but reliving the same moment over and over does not look like a lot of fun after a few run-throughs. Even in the movies, that “perfect moment” does not exist. Time and time again, Bill Murray’s character tries to recreate the day. In essence, isn’t that exactly what we are doing with each new sunrise? I am not sure about you, friend, but my goal is to consistently be better each day and not just keep repeating the same trials over and over. Sounds pretty simple, but I can assure you as a gal who is all too human, it is not. It is work. 

It takes hard looks. It takes honesty. It takes reviewing my mistakes and trying to learn from them. It takes previewing my day before it happens so I am able to try and prepare for what its awakening brings along with it. In an even larger scope, it takes knowing not just what we face day to day, but also season to season- be it calendar seasons or life seasons. If I am not actively looking at where I am headed, how am I able to tell how far I have come? If I am not reviewing where I have been, how am I able to tell how far I have yet to go? And if you think about it, what better time of the year than a cold December? The year is almost complete and as we move into January and a blank slate how do we make the most of it? 

So far, this sounds terrible.. Am I right? Truly, the work is not always fun. When it is fun, on the days I get it right, it is worth the harshness of being honest with myself. When you see a twinkle of the life we have coming in the eternal, it makes all this work in the temporal seem like less of a burden. And specifically as we catch the end of a year where some of the forward momentum picks up and we are danced by sugarplum fairies right into the shiny, new year.

Suffice to say, review and preview are large parts of my holiday season. I spend time finding an attitude of gratitude in November and then shift into some of the things I am most grateful for- like the birth of my Savior. Even during what I regard as my favorite time of the year,  I am not just focused on one moment in a snowglobe of time. I am still looking forward to things like the Advent season where we focus not just on the birth of Jesus, but also why the manger leads to the cross. It is a great reminder that we are always moving forward and sometimes we need to pause to see where we are headed. 

There are a few questions that both prompt me to think not just of the trials I have faced, but to also focus on the beautiful parts of the journey I have experienced or are yet to come. Maybe you ask yourself what was your favorite memory from the past year or perhaps what was the biggest lesson you learned this year? More simply put- what worked and what didn’t? And how can you use that to grow your relationship with God in the coming year? 

That is the root of all the reflection isn't it, how each of these moments stacks up to draw us in closer to the foot of the cross? Maybe, friend, we find the twinkle not in the lights, but instead in our own hearts as we finish up this year and prepare to start anew. 

Jen is a small town, Oklahoma girl married to a superhero. Together, they are raising a family on second chances, shiplap, and a shoestring. She is a firm believer in grace, organization, and efficiency. She finds great satisfaction in taking broken items and giving them new life, likely because that is exactly what God did for her. She over uses the word shine, exclamation points, and emojis. Jen calls her children her greatest accomplishments. A natural born encourager and armchair warrior, she is learning to redefine her mission field and make the most of each day she is given. She has recently been promoted from breast cancer warrior to breast cancer survivor. She’s chronically ill and chronically positive—not necessarily in that order. She is learning to practice perseverance over perfection and longs for the day she gets to see her grandparents and Jesus’ face. Until then, she is just looking for Grace in the Grind.

Photo by N. on Unsplash