I'm thinking the whirlwind that is the Christmas season blew through your lives the same way it did ours: swirling with alternating moments of chaotic joy, minor trauma, & delighted surprise on top of the gentle, receding tide of knowing that it is all going too, too fast. In doing some reading last night, some sentences by Charles Spurgeon about the importance of ending one's day with a time of prayerful reflection, strengthened my resolve to live more mindfully in the year ahead.

"It is fitting that we should set apart a peaceful season before the day has quite 

ended... to leap from day to day like a mad hunter beating the bushes is an omen 

of being delivered over to destruction.  But the solemn pause, the deliberate 

consideration, these are means of grace and signs of an indwelling life....

Each evening it would be well to traverse the boundaries of the day and take 

 note of all that it has brought and all that it has seen."

There. No grand, sweeping, idealistic new year's resolution for me! I'm old enough to admit the best changes , the lasting changes, come when I  approach them with a humble "one day at a time" effort. This year, the mindfulness is about priorities. It boils down to a phrase  heard from my wise pastor, John Wile, years ago, "Remember - people, not projects." Amen. Seems like a no brainer, n'est ce pas? After all, most of these projects are to help people, right?Sometimes, one may get so wrapped up in one's vision, so swept away by the magnificence of the concept, that it doesn't become about the people anymore. In fact, the people might feel any or all the following: puzzled, abandoned, neglected, overwhelmed, inadequate, disillusioned, or lonely. How would I know this, you ask? Well, let's just say I should have started living mindfully years ago - please don't make me go there - to the dark place, the place of knocking myself out and then feeling under appreciated & put out even though NO ONE asked me to construct an entire rainforest for a two day church event.

And then there's the slaving over a hot stove..... It's not pretty . I'm anything but proud of the times I proceeded in doing what I thought  people needed without stopping to think or even ask what it was they wanted. So, more focused on others. More listening. More reflecting on what works, what is pleasing to God. More grace & mercy. More love.

 Quick idea: Take a minute to write a quick note - just a sentence or two about your family time together this past holiday. Then tuck it inside the last Christmas box, or even your stocking, before storage. It's a simple thing that you'll be so touched to read in the years to come - an unexpected grace note - like finding a five dollar bill in the pocket of a rarely worn jacket (Am I the only one out there that purposefully leaves money in my pockets so I'll have a happy surprise? Oh well) Those little moments joy make life richer, more meaningful.