We don’t need a new year to make us stop and reflect on our priorities, but somehow there is something clean and fresh about the new calendar year that makes me believe that change is possible. New patterns can form. Old dreams can become new realities.

Once again, God has been born into the world. Christmas has come and gone with all its beauty and complication and now I can breath deeply again.  I can sit quietly with a journal and say: “here I am God. Here we are. Now what? What are you inviting me into this year? What are you leading me away from?”.

Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new.
    It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it?
There it is! I’m making a road through the desert,
    rivers in the badlands. 

I like the way Eugene Peterson paraphrases Isaiah 43:19 in the Message. God is at work right now. “It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it? There it is!” These words of hope were written to people oppressed and scattered by centuries of occupation, war and exile. Our contexts may be different, but God is just as active in our world today!

This is how I am framing my resolutions for 2016: what is it that is bursting out in my life? Some of this bursting is obvious to me now, but some of it will take all year (or longer) to be seen and integrated into my life. Here are some of the resolutions bursting out in my life this new year:

1. Volunteer somewhere that doesn’t say “Mennonite” in the name.

2. Dedicate time to pray/journal every day, even when I don’t feel like it.

3. Be bold.

4. Memorize the names of each of the Six Nations of the Grand River (Mohawk, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Seneca and Tuscarora).

5. Keep questioning how my actions impact the planet and be prepared to change them.

What is bursting out in your life for 2016? What are you going to do about it?