Lessons from 2024: Choosing what truly matters over the hustle

Well here we are! A new year, a fresh page on a brand new calendar. A full 365 unknown days filled with opportunities of all kinds. When you kiss that loved one at midnight, the clock changes and a new year rolls around. And you know what that means? Absolutely nothing....unless you make it mean something. Craig and I have been talking a lot lately about why people do what they do,...or in many cases...don’t do what they don’t do. Things that seem so common sense to us, are not even considered by others. But, in the words of my sister Ashley, you can’t hold others to your own standard, all you will get is frustrated and disappointed. She isn’t wrong. I have never been one for new years resolutions. My thinking is that if you want something to change that much you will change it as soon as you realize it needs to be done. But I also get the idea of setting a starting point and goals for yourself too. Losing weight, not smoking, finding new hobbies, setting new goals, discovering new gifts in yourself are all great ideas of things to resolve to do this year. I hope that if you have set some of these for yourself that you meet those goals and remember to celebrate every step of the way. Craig and I always use this time of year to set new goals for our family. In the past we have locked in and conquered things such as cutting our debt in half, moving out to the farm, traveling more and finding more time to just rest together. This year, we are stepping out to do some big new things. Opening up some business opportunities and looking forward to seeing some dreams come to reality. \ Last year was hard, many of the goals I sat last January got pushed to the side in order to focus on more important things. Last year, dad had received his diagnosis, we were all reeling and working hard to hold it all together. The year was spent focused on him and our family and I do not regret a second of it. 2024 taught me just how strong I am. How much I could do, that I once thought I wasn’t capable of. It taught me a new measure of love and strength. It increased my love of family and made me even more dedicated to making sure the people around me know how much I love and appreciate them. It was a hard year, but it was still very much a blessed year. It pushed my limits, broke my heart and brought new healing in other areas. My priorities were shifted this past year.I realized just how much I pushed to the side in the name of work and necessity, that was not so necessary. It taught me to slow down, take a breath, and savor more sunsets. It took me repeatedly back to the story of Mary and Martha in the Bible. If you have been in church any length of time, I am sure you know it. Jesus was coming for dinner and Martha rushed about the house preparing everything and working to make it all perfect. But Mary, she flopped down at the feet of Jesus to just soak up time with him. Martha, she got irritated. She didn’t understand how she was stuck with all the work while Mary just say there and she voiced her complaints to Jesus. He then told her that Mary had choosen what was good. I am working to choose more of what is good. Last year, I stressed myself out when my laundry wasn’t done, my house wasn’t clean. Instead of enjoying the time with our littles, I fussed and rushed to take care of it all. It could have waited. At dads funeral, while everyone else was visiting, I was working on getting the paper out. It could have waited. The yard was getting a little tall, the girls wanted to go swimming. I made them wait. But it could have waited. 18. Think about that number. It seems really big if you are talking about how many pounds you have gained. But in other things, it seems really small. 18 miles to your destination is nothing. If we are lucky we get at least 18 Christmas’ with our kids. 18 Easter bakets, 18 birthday celebrations where you get to wake your kids up with a song. And that doesn’t seem anywhere near enough. For me, those 18 are gone. Sure, I get to see our kids on a regular basis and enjoy them almost daily. But the little things, the many opportunities to make those lasting memories that they pass on to their kids, are gone. That is a hard one to realize. I didn’t make the most of it all the time. I made a lot of mistakes along the way. But I am working daily to do my best to choose what is good. To slow down and realize the laundry can wait. The dust on the shelves will still be there for me to swipe up tomorrow. But today I am needed for a waterslide, for a movie, for a giggle or cookie baking. And in those moments, nothing else matters. Life moves fast, don’t miss a glimpse of it, hold on to it for as long as you can. Whatever those dreams, ideas, goals you have for 2025, I hope you succeed in every single one of them! And I hope that God blesses you every step of the way, even on your hardest days.