Christmas was over faster than a woman grabbing her Amazon packages off the porch before her husband gets home; faster than the weeks of planning, shopping, eating, anticipating, wrapping, worrying, and eating some more are done.
All the late nights wrapping, the early mornings making breakfast, the energy spent trying to make everything perfect was worth it. We felt the magic. I’m now currently in that weird stretch of time where I don’t know what day it is, I am scared to check my bank account, I eat cheese for no reason at all, and my heart is full.
Soon it will be a new year, and with it will come the anticipation of new goals, a fresh slate, and a changed waistline. Goodbye cheese and hello salad. I’ve got resolutions. This year will be different, I tell myself. But I can’t help but think that I am about to go around the same mountain I’ve been going around for the past 40 years.
Every year, I do the same thing: I write roughly the same goals and usually start off strong. But somewhere between February and December, life happens, and I find myself once again eating cheese in the weird space continuum and pondering what the next year will bring.
But what if this year is different?
A New Kind of Resolution
This morning something changed. Something new was dropped in my spirit that was different than all the years before. I knew God was speaking to me, and I was ready to listen.
I have been going around the same mountain because I have been trying to do it myself. I am trying to make myself into the woman God created me to be. I am trying to pull out all of the dreams and desires God placed in my heart. And I am trying to carry the weight of the world’s expectations on my shoulders.
Contrary to popular belief, I was never meant to do this. I can’t change myself. Only Jesus can.
What if this year, I didn’t set a list of goals to achieve but instead drew near to the Lord? What if I took time to pray, for myself and my family, and to mediate on his word? What if instead of putting all my energy into putting pressure on myself and allowing feelings of failure to discourage me until I eventually throw in the towel, I came to Him? Through whispered prayers and moments in His word. What if I allowed Him to renew and redeem me? How would it change me?
I love Jeremiah 17:7-8:
“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”
This is what I want. To become a strong woman who does not fear. Whose leaves are always green, providing shade and oxygen to those around her. Who never worries and who always bears fruit. Connected to the vine which is Jesus.
Inside that “fruit” is the woman you were created to be. It’s your contribution to the kingdom of heaven, and it’s where you will find your greatest sense of purpose. I want that.
Left to my own devices, I quickly drift away. Only He can anchor me.
If Past Resolutions Failed, Try This Plan Instead
What would my year look like if I chose to allow him to anchor me?
See, I am starting to think that New Year’s resolutions are the world’s way of setting me up for failure. How kind. But Jesus knew we couldn’t get it right the first time or even the millionth time, and he had a plan for that. He always had a plan.
A new year will come with new hopes and new dreams. And it will certainly come with new failures. But a woman connected to Jesus can stand up and lift up her head (Luke 21:28).
She can fail a thousand times and still get up because His mercies are new every morning. Great is HIS faithfulness. Not hers.
What Would 2026 Look Like With Jesus As Your Anchor?
Maybe this year you have goals for yourself, or maybe you’re discouraged because you’re not where you thought you would be. With Jesus, every second of every minute of every day is an opportunity to start fresh. He died so we wouldn’t have to, and his love covers a multitude of sin and failure. Connected to Him, we can be renewed daily and live a life of purpose. When the excitement and motivation wear off, when all else fails, come back to Him.
To be renewed is to make something new again, and this is His desire for you. It’s always been His desire for you.
This year, I have said goodbye to New Year’s resolutions. Instead, I am going to stay connected to Jesus. I will fail, and some days miserably, but I will get back up with grit and with grace, and He will continue to anchor me. And this year will be different.
“Each of us is now a part of his resurrected body, refreshed and sustained at one fountain—his spirit—where we all come to drink.” (1 Corinthians 12:12-15 MSG)
