The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. Psalm 118:22
New Year. That magical time when we expect to be transformed into something new just because a page on the calendar turned. To be different at 12:01 from who we were at midnight. I usually reject making resolutions. 2018 is different, though. In just a few months, I will turn 60. Usually, it is the birthdays ending in 5 that get to me, but 60 sounds momentous. Particularly since at 50, I made a life goal list and some of those goals were to have been reached by 60. Like being healthier at 60 than at 50. So, here I am with two and a half months to get healthy. Well, maybe I can cut myself some slack and take the whole year. To be healthier at 60 will take a lot of change. A new way to eat, more exercise, ignoring cravings, taking seriously the things I have learned from our personal trainer and nutritionist. 60 feels like the year to quit fooling around. The year to make the changes that will become habits for the next 25 years or so. Maybe at 90 I will feel like eating a dozen cookies in one sitting again, but for now, that seems foolish. It is not just my health that needs attention. As I get closer to retirement, our finances need reworking. I have to learn to save more than I spend. To set aside money for taxes and insurance that won’t be covered by a steady income. 60 also means that time is becoming more precious. I need to learn how to manage my time better so I don’t go whirling through life like a pinball. But, there are some advantages to turning 60, besides senior citizen discounts. I am wiser as I get older. I know that none of the changes I need to make can be done alone. Yes, Glen is on board (or at least he appears to be on board) with these goals. He will help hold me accountable as will my friends. I’ve posted my plans on Facebook in hopes that publicizing them will keep me from backsliding. After all, if it is on Facebook, it is true. Or will be true. Still, I know I cannot meet any of these monumental goals without God’s help and that is why my first resolution is to make Christ my cornerstone. Everything else will be built on Him. A dependence on Him is what I truly require. I divided my list into four areas, reconnect with Jesus, be fiscally responsible, be a time manager and be healthy. In all of those areas, I listed what I will do to accomplish that goal. Everything from no clothes shopping to only checking my Facebook four times a day. But, the most important resolutions revolve around the Cornerstone. That way, at the end of the year, I can say, “This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. (Psalm 119:23-24)”
I turn 56 this year, but we have the same goals. Injury has spurred this change in me and I hope to never experience such an injury again. Mine was caused by carelessness, but could have just as easily been caused by unsteady balance or slipping in the tub or any number of mishaps that are attributed to the elderly. I am not elderly (neither are you), but I can see it from here and I want to do some preventive maintenance so that perhaps future injuries of this type DON’T happen. Keeping my body in balance and healthy will go a long way toward that goal. I like how you’ve divided up your goals – I can do something similar. Money is always an issue. A friend was talking about emergency funds and I laughed. If I lost my job today, I’d be homeless within a month. We have nothing put by and there are times when we are living paycheck to paycheck. Raising kids (mine and other people’s) put a dent in saving. There is always something. Mine will be launched soon and revamping finances and what we spend is going to be a priority!