Happy New Year everyone! We are just days into a brand new year as well as a brand new decade. Now we only have to endure a few more months of “last decade,” “last year,” and “20/20 vision” jokes and puns. I’m sure we will all be suffering through it together.
As I reflect on this last decade, it amazes me how far I’ve come and how much I’ve grown, both literally and figuratively considering I started this past decade as a 6th grader. Since then, I’ve finished junior high, high school, and now college. The last ten years have been full of learning and discovering the world as well as myself. I’ve gone through some pretty intense phases (yes, I’m talking about you, Twilight, JB, and One Direction). I learned how to maintain my curly hair and grew into some of my features post-braces (my eighth grade DC trip photos will vouch for me on that). I’ve studied abroad, had my writing published online, became an aunt x4, graduated college summa cum laude, and moved away from my hometown.
I grew–and continue to grow–into the person I was meant to be in this last decade. Junior high was full of insecurities and doubts about who I was and now I couldn’t be more confident in myself and my abilities. More often than not I feel authentically myself, and that is all I could have asked for back in junior high and even high school.
It hasn’t all been sunny days, however. Things that molded my character most were often heartbreaks and seasons of sadness: losing friends way too young, letting go of people I cared about, and fighting through seasons that felt like they would never end, with one thing after the other threatening to pull me under high waters. But each moment taught me more about myself, my strength and resilience, and about the God that promised to get me through it all.
For me, college was a huge turning point in my life. I gained life-long friends, changed the outlook of my career and life goals, and grew into my faith stronger than ever before. A friend and mentor asked me to sum up what God was doing in my life through college in one word, what that whole experience was to me. After some thought, I said “pursued.” In reflection, it became clear that God was pursuing my heart to be all-in for Him. Even when I was deep in the dark corners of my own broken choices, He was coming after me, pulling me towards the Light He had for me. He used countless people, organizations, sermons, podcasts, and even visions to bring me closer to His character and the life He had waiting for me.
And now begins this new year, this new decade, this new season of “the real world” that promises to be the best and hardest yet. I have a lot of ambitions, many of them requiring a lot of self-motivation and discipline on my part. And with that, I have two main resolutions for this new year and decade alike. The first is to be obedient to where God is taking me and what He is doing in my life. If I’ve learned anything in the last ten years, it’s that His plan is best and it’s much easier when I just follow Him in the first place. The second resolution is to write more, ideally every day in some way. There are a lot of writing and publishing projects I want to take on, and if any of them are going to happen I have to be self-disciplined.
So far, the first day of 2020 has been pretty ideal, including my morning quiet time reading the Bible, my dad making my mom and I breakfast, writing this blog post, a pilates workout, making macarons (my favorite dessert), and will end with a small family get together celebrating my college graduation. A day full of things I love and people I love. I’m hoping the same for each day to follow. Who could ask for anything more?
I’m praying for the same kind of blessings for all of you, and hope 2020 challenges us to be better and work towards the dreams that have been stirring in our hearts. What is your New Years Resolution? I’d love to hear them!
Always,
Emily
Always Emily 