Life never goes as planned. Some days it raises our hopes causing us to believe life will be perfect, mistake free, and blessings will shower upon us. We start off the new year with our resolutions, our goals, our fifty-two week money saving challenge, and everything goes smoothly for about a month, a week, a day. Then one morning the water heater bursts, the roof collapses, Firefly is cancelled, and the car breaks down. You walk over to your change jar, smash it, pay what you need to repair the roof, the car, buy a new water heater, and sulk because Firefly just isn't going to be renewed.
Life never goes as planned. It's the spontaneity of a gift we never asked to receive, yet every day we do our best to make the most out of it and every January 1st we celebrate or mourn the passing of an old year. I am more of a home by 7, pants off by 7:30, watching Justified at 7:30 kind of New Year's Eve person myself. For some, though, they ring in the new year as loudly and joyfully as they can. They post their resolutions or goals for 2014, and the blogospheres (if that's still a thing) and social media explodes with good tidings of cheerful hope. Most of the posts make for a good read if you don't care to watch all the bowl games on television.
I read about a church in California that has their nativity scene painted by a member who is a brilliant artist. Every painting contains some social commentary from the previous year, and this year the artist made a gutsy decision to paint a bloody Trayvon Martin laying dead in the manger. When asked about such a decision he said he wanted people to remember that Jesus was born into a violent world, one in which King Herod massacres every boy under the age of two. His purpose was to remind his community of the harsh realities that do not disappear during the Christmastide or on New Year's Day. And being an artist, he did so in a very provocative way.
The point being, life is not full of rainbows, puppies, and unicorns. It is life, even during Christmastide and New Year's Day. One moment you are joyfully celebrating life together and the very next you are burying your child. Life ebbs and flows with each day bringing it's one set of possibilities. It does not take off for the holidays.
I say all that to really say, you are going to get punched in the gut at some point in the year. My prayer is that you are one of the lucky ones and the only tragedy coming your way is the impending cancellation of Marvel's Agents of SHIELD. The odds, though, are not in your favor nor in mine. At some point in 2014, Life is going to sneak up behind us and knock us in the junk. When the inevitable happens, remember the answer to this question: Why do we fall?
So we can get back up.
Do your very best to get back up.
Believe in yourself and in others, take a chance and believe in the One, we are told, who gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. Believe you can recover when you get punched in the mouth. Believe you can get back up. If you are struggling to get back up, ask for help. Do not be afraid to ask for help. Do not be afraid to seek out a friend, a loved one, a doctor, a sponsor, a treatment center, or support. Ask for help when you need it. Even if you just need someone to sit beside you while you catch your breath.
You are going to struggle at some point in 2014. You are going to start off strong and before you know it, the shoreline will be in the distance behind you, but you won't be able to see past the horizon in front of you. Eventually you will feel like you are moving in place and all you'll want to do is lay down, and slip off. In those dark moments, know you are not alone. Know there is one who suffers alongside you and have the courage to wait. We are told that even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint (Isaiah 40:30-31).
Please, in the words of Dory, just keep on swimming and know you do not swim alone.
May 2014 be a blessing to everyone.
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