A New Year, A New Decade, A New Start

Can you believe we are really here? We are standing on the edge of the year 2020. The year that once seemed like a far-off future in a sci-fi movie, the year we’ve made jokes about for years-you know, 2020 vision, and all that. The “future” isn’t far away anymore; we are in the midst of it, whether it looks like what we imagined it would be or not.

Something about this year feels so monumental to me, and not just because it’s hard to believe the turn of the millennium was already twenty years ago. As the latter half of this year rapidly wound to a close, it struck me that 2019 was about to be over in a blink.

And I’d accomplished nothing…

Only a few small goals from my ambitious New Year’s list would be getting a check mark on Dec. 31, the big things I’d “vowed” to do left in the dust. Seeing the accomplishments of others around me against my own lack of action, and the dates flying by on my calendar… it startled me. I began to realize that not only was the year about to end, by an entire decade of my life was ending as well.

Ten years ago, I was twelve years old, heading into my teenage years, both nervous and excited about what the next stage of my life would hold. Now, on the other side of the 2010’s, I’m twenty-two, graduated, working full-time, and married. Quite a HUGE difference from where I started. But what could I say I really accomplished in ten years, beyond that? Yes, I have grown as a person and Christian, I have grown as a musician and singer, I’ve stepped into new roles at my church, and I’ve written three full-length novels. That may sound pretty good to you, but to me it wasn’t enough. Because I knew all the dozens of other things I’d wanted to do that never got done.

It frustrated me, even scared me. A whole decade of my life has flown past, and I didn’t feel like I’d made the most of it. And there is nothing like that gut-wrenching feeling that you are wasting the valuable time you have on earth.

This, combined with my other reasons I’ve mentioned before, spurred me to start this blog. I decided that I HAD to finish this last year of the decade strong. I didn’t want to coast into the New Year like usual at this time of year. I wanted to rally and sprint to the finish line.

Though I haven’t done everything I wanted to, I’ve at least accomplished this one BIG thing that’s been on my to-do list. Now I feel like I can sit back and watch this year fade in peace and look forward to the next ten.

An era is ending and a new one is beginning. It sounds sad, intimidating, and even a little scary to think of 2020 in that light, but it’s also exciting and a great relief to me. The 2010’s threw me many heartbreaks and challenges (even though I was a teenager for most of them) and several big life changes. The past year has been the most trying of all. I won’t bother rehashing everything; those who know us well know what sort of things we’ve faced, and right now, I don’t see the need in recounting all the details. But suffice it to say that the first year of our marriage has been an unrelenting rollercoaster, not when it comes to our relationship but our surrounding circumstances. In fact, 2019 has seemed to be a hard year for many people in my life. Both of our families have gone through difficult changes and trials, dear friends have walked through unimaginable things, people have lost loved ones, jobs, and more.

For the past several years that I have written big “My Year in Review” posts on social media, they’ve been chocked full of optimism, shrugging off any little low points that occured and focusing only on the good. And that’s totally fine! But this year, for me and many others, has had more unavoidable craters than mere dips in the road. I’m still wanting to remember the good that’s happened, but at the same time I’ve never been so happy to bid a year goodbye.

This New Year’s, I’m determined to take everything bad that happened in 2019 and leave it on the backside of midnight. A new decade is beginning and I want to start anew with it.

What a comforting thought is that? The idea that we have this unique chance to not only start a new year of our lives, but an entire new era. Every mistake or trial of the last decade can be left behind and we can start fresh, with a brand new, clean path before us. I love this quote from Anne of Green Gables that fits perfectly with this thought:

“Isn’t it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?”

Anne of Green Gables, by L. M. Montgomery

I know what I want to do with my next decade of tomorrows—or at least with 2020’s tomorrows, and if God wills, of course—and I will be sharing more on that later. But do you know? Are there things you left undone this year or this decade? Are there things you’re kicking yourself over, that you know you could have done if you’d only stopped procrastinating? Are there mistakes you regret, hurts you want to forget? Well, guess what! This time is passed, and new days, new chances are ahead.

‭‭Philippians‬ ‭3:13-14‬ says:

“Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

It doesn’t matter what happened to you over the last ten years. Forget it and move on! You can embrace this new decade and start fresh. That calling God put on your life that you’ve pushed aside—chase it! That business you want to start but have been too afraid to—start it! That big dream you have buried deep down—pursue it with all your heart! There is no telling what the next ten years may hold, whether good or bad. The sky isn’t even the limit—there IS NO limit to what GOD could unfold in your life, if only you’ll give Him the chance to work.

Leave it all on the backside of midnight and press forward!