Lauren Sparks

The Sparks Notes

12 Articles to Inspire You in the New Year: A Roundup

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New YearYesterday was National Resolution Planning Day.  And also National Bacon Day.  Anyone else love irony?

 

I am no expert on goal setting, organizing or losing weight, but so many of us are looking for ways to do this next year a little better than the last.  So I called on some of my friends, and they came through. 

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These articles inspire me to set new goals and change mindsets – all for the glory of God.

 

For easy reference, these blog posts are broken up into 4 categories:  Spiritual Growth (first because I consider it the most important), Health, Word for the Year, and Other Improvements.  I pray you find something really helpful here.

 

Spiritual Growth in the New Year

 

  1.  I have already placed an order, and you might too after you see inside this beautiful planner reviewed in Planning for a Faithful Life on instaencouragements.com. New Year
  2. Sara from theholymess.com supplies us with a New Life in Christ Bible Reading Plan.  Dive into your time in the Word with intention!
  3. I found this tool new and interesting.   Check out the Christian Growth Wheel to Mature Your Faith from thinkaboutsuchthings.com.
  4. The Abundant Life…How to Flourish in a Frazzled World from simplyscripture.org is so self explanatory.  And so needed.

 

Health in the New Year

 

  1.  healthyasyoucan.com tackles arguably one of the most popular resolutions in How to Set and Slay Your Healthy Weight Loss Goals for the New Year.  New Year
  2. And I tackled mental health with the help of my friend Stacey – who is a licensed professional counselor – in Saying Goodbye to the Inner Critic.

 

One Word for the New Year

 

  1.  Many choose a one word focus for the year.  A word to study, pray over, meditate on.  I chose trust last year and continue to learn so much about depending on the God of the Universe.  Lisa from lisanotes.com chronicles 3 Steps to Choose the Right Word.  You may not even think you need a word.  But maybe you do…New Year
  2. pattyparker.me tells us about picking a Family Word of the Year and what it means to her.

 

Other Improvements in the New Year

 

  1.  Patty Parker to the rescue again with Living Clutter Free in the New Year:  9 Tips That Will Rock Your World.  Who doesn’t want to have their world rocked?
  2. How about some general tips on planning for success?  4 Keys to Planning Your Best Year Ever from livingwithmargins.com.
  3. And How to Beat the Odds and Reach Your Goals This Year from marvasmith.com.
  4. And it may be a little uncomfortable, but Accountability Helps Goals Become a Reality.  Thanks angelpenn.com.

 

And One to Grow on in The New Year

 

Last year at this time I hosted friend Shannon Pugh writing about evaluating last year before jumping into any of this other stuff in One Minute…Makes a Big Difference!

 

I would love to know if one of these struck a nerve with you or if you’ve decided to implement a plan or suggestion!  Also, do you have any New Year’s traditions?  Leave a comment below.  And Happy New Year!

 

And now for this week’s featured post from the link up!

 

Fellow Grace and Truth host Lisa Burgess captured my attention with 7 Tools to Overcome Your Addiction to Certainty.  Her message nestles right up against my word for 2021.  Trust.  And I still have so much to learn.  Maybe you do too.

 

1. Share 1 or 2 of your most recent CHRISTIAN LIVING posts. (No DIY, crafts, recipes, or inappropriate articles.) All links are randomly sorted.

2. Comment on 1 or 2 other links. Grace & Truth linkup encourages community.

3. Every host features one entry from the previous week. To be featured, include this button or link back here on your post (mandatory to be featured, but not to participate).

Grace and Truth_Meet Hosts

We encourage you to follow our hosts on their blogs or social media.

MAREE DEE – Embracing the Unexpected
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LAUREN SPARKS
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LISA BURGESS – Lisa notes
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TAMMY KENNINGTON – Restoring hope. Pursuing peace.
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Now Let’s Link Up!

 

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Giving God Guardianship…and Grace and Truth Link Up

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My daughter Shelby turned 21 this month.  I don’t know whether to consider 18 or 21 more significant in the life of a young adult, but both signify milestones of a sort.  For me 21 means the hard work of changing every one of her doctors from pediatric specialists to adult care practitioners.  This proves more difficult when combined with finding docs who accept her government issued insurance.  She has private insurance through my husband’s work, but once she turns 26 she will lose it and depend solely on the other.  And I don’t want to do all this again in 5 years.  Oh yes, we also have to transition her insurance.

 

All of this made me reminiscent of that 18th birthday.  After a lot of expense and paperwork, the courts appointed my husband and me as Shelby’s legal guardians.  I wrote about it previously, so I will only summarize here.  We basically had her declared incompetent.  A hard thing to say, but a harder thing to do.

 

I promise this is not a Britney Spears-type situation.  Don’t @ me with your #freeShelby.  Since Shelby is developmentally about 2 years old, she isn’t fit to make her own decisions or make her own money.  This step ensured that doctors, pharmacists, school personnel and other institutions will forever give us access to records and managing authority.

 

When the court day arrived and the guardianship granted, I immediately felt relief.  But as soon as I got out of the courthouse, grief enveloped me.  I started to cry and didn’t stop for 30 minutes.  I had no doubt that Chuck and I did the right thing, but mourned the “adult” that Shelby would never get to be.

 

Trust

God has been teaching me to trust Him this year.  I chose TRUST (or it chose me) for my One Word 2021.  It struck me that I often feel the same dichotomy of relief and grief about my decisions as I did on that summer day outside the courthouse.  As I’ve turned some things over to God (Or to be more forthcoming,  He ripped them out of my unwilling hands.), I grieved.  For what I would not be able to know and what I could no longer do.  But the relief.

The ceasing of striving.  The conversion of things from constant obsession to daily prayer request.  That’s good.  Knowing that God is in control (and I never really was) brings a sense of peace I haven’t experienced in a long time.

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Every year, my husband and I must petition the court for renewal of the guardianship granted over my daughter.  In the same way, I periodically (okay, maybe multiple times a day) must renew my trust in the God of the Universe to be my managing authority.  Old habits die hard, after all.  I attempt to nose my way into situations and wrestle back control more often than I like to admit.  And every time I convince myself that I need the reins again, my anxiety skyrockets.

 

I am no more equipped to handle what should be entrusted to God than my sweet Shelby can handle the responsibilities of adulthood.  (Sometimes I wonder if I can handle adulthood!)  But every time I err on the side of self-reliance, God graciously steps in again – letting me know that He never really let go.

 

And now for this week’s featured post from the link up!

 

I hope you are reading this from your comfiest chair with your feet up because this post is like a warm hug.  Karen “Girl” Friday expounds on discerning true love in a sea of distortions.  And it’s an encouragement to be reminded of how God loves us.  Read Hang-ups about Love and Recapturing  the Truth.

 

Grace and Truth_Rules

1. Share 1 or 2 of your most recent CHRISTIAN LIVING posts. (No DIY, crafts, recipes, or inappropriate articles.) All links are randomly sorted.

2. Comment on 1 or 2 other links. Grace & Truth linkup encourages community.

3. Every host features one entry from the previous week. To be featured, include this button or link back here on your post (mandatory to be featured, but not to participate).

Grace Truth_Button

We encourage you to follow our hosts on their blogs or social media.

MAREE DEE – Embracing the Unexpected
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

HEATHER HART & VALERIE RIESE – Candidly Christian
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

LAUREN SPARKS
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

LISA BURGESS – Lisa notes
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

Now Let’s Link Up!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter


Sharing is caring! If you liked this post, do me the huge honor of using the buttons below to share it to your favorite social media accounts. And if you want to get these essays emailed to you once a week, subscribe!  Lastly, my posts may contain affiliate links and I earn from qualifying purchases. If you buy anything from one of these links, I will receive a few pennies to help offset the cost of this website at no additional charge to you. Thank you in advance for your help.

 

 

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