Why I’m Not Waiting for the New Year

It’s that time of year again. Everyone is talking about plans for the upcoming new year. Resolutions and goals. Choosing one word or a Scripture to guide their year. All of it revolving around the calendar turning over on midnight December 31st.

Now, I love tradition as much as the next gal, but I don’t tend to buy into there being anything magical about January 1st. That’s why this year, I’m making my resolutions and starting today. This is the day the Lord has made after all.

So… what am I starting today?

If you really want to know, I’ll be completely candid.

My 5 Goals for the New Year (starting today)

1.) Share Jesus within the Pews

I had a powerful dream last night. I was a missionary visiting a Christian school in Africa and I shared a message that blew my own socks off. This will probably be a blog post of its own, however it’s important I share part of it here because it was so powerful I woke up ready to take on the world. At 4 am, with a migraine, I wanted to tell somebody about Jesus. And not just anybody, somebody who already knew.

I wanted to tell someone who knew about Jesus that knowing wasn’t enough, that you have to believe. So many of us know about Jesus like He is a fact of life. We know what the preacher says, but it doesn’t impact our lives. But the truth is, if Jesus isn’t the Lord of your life, you might as well burn your Bible. Trust me. This is a whole blog post if not a book. But it’s a message that has reignited my faith in a way I have been hungering before but didn’t know was possible.

So that’s my goal. To preach Jesus as Lord to those who know Him as fact. I want to share Jesus with those who are sitting in church pews. I don’t just want to, I have a burning need to do so. In fact, if you’d like to invite me to speak to your group, let me know. All I charge for speaking engagements is travel fees.

Practical Steps to Make This a Reality

• To make this goal into reality I will be accepting speaking engagements. I don’t know how or where they will come from, but I know it’s what God is calling me to do. I’m trusting God on this one.
• I am also going to start asking people why they are in church settings. It’s a bold question, and I’m praying for the right wording. But it makes a difference if someone is showing up because they love Jesus or because it’s just what “Good Christians” do, or maybe because they are searching. I’d kind of like to know so I know how to interact with them in a Christlike way.

2.) Blog

Part of sharing Jesus with those in the church pews is blogging. I’ve been on a hiatus for…. well, practically for a year and a half. I tried to come back strong after Covid, but I’m not the same person I was pre-Covid. I’ve changed. I’m more at peace. Content to just be. I don’t need to be constantly doing or striving or working or anything. I just need to be.

That’s what I’ve been doing a lot of this past year. Just being.

But, I’m ready to come back. Not come back, I’m ready to move forward. A friend of mine told me my writing had changed since I had Covid. I believe her. Near death experiences change a person. But that’s it’s own blog post too. The bottom line is, you’ll be seeing more of me online.

Practical Steps to Make This a Reality

1. You guessed it, Candidly Christian is back. We’ll be on the blog at least once a week starting today.
2. I’m starting a new website, details on that are coming soon.
3. I’ll be sharing updates about where I am on my resolutions on my author blog.
4. And more. I don’t have it all fleshed out with, but God is calling me to more than this I’m just not sure what yet.

3.) Get Physically Fit

This one is deeply personal. I need to lose 100 pounds. Not like, “Oh, wouldn’t it be great to be skinny? Tee Hee” But like, I’m so obese I get winded walking from one room to another. My blood pressure and heart rate are high and I need to make changes.

I’m finally to a place physically (also a blog post of its own) where I can start making the changes I need to make. I know it will be a process, but I’m determined to do it. By this time next year, I want to be 100lbs lighter. Not to look good in a pair jeans, but so I can go hiking with my family again. So I don’t need to take medicine to prevent a heart attack.

Practical Steps to Make This a Reality

• Starting today, I want to get 5,000 steps a day. Yes, I know that’s not what’s recommended, but it’s what I believe I can commit to to start with. Once I get a treadmill, I plan to commit to 10K steps a day.

4.) Get Fit Mentally

I’ve been struggling with depression since I had Covid. I almost died, and I was ready to step into heaven, but God had other plans. I’ve just recently understood why I’m still here. (It’s not about me at all.)

I also stopped taking my depression medication last Christmas and they haven’t found one that works for me since I started back. So there’s that. They finally put me back on the one that worked before, so here’s to hoping that will help…

However, my mental fitness has less to do with serotonin and more to do with my spiritual state. While I believe finding the right medication and taking it will help, I also know that I need Jesus. I need him every day in every possible way. I need him to be my go-to when I start to get depressed. Instead of wallowing in self-pity, I need to seek Jesus for the moment. Whether that means pouring my heart out to him in prayer, reading Psalm 42, or preaching the gospel to myself.

Practical Steps to Make This a Reality

• Take medicine
• Stay in the Word and in prayer

5.) Attain Financial Stability

Okay, this is another candid moment. Financially, my life is a wreck. I’ve spent too much and earned too little. I’ve always viewed my writing as a ministry, but it’s time for that to change. I am an author, it is my job. So yes, I want to witness and share my faith with as many people as possible, but I also need to stop pouring money in without getting anything back financially.

It’s more a mental mind shift for myself that needs to happen here. But there will be some practical changes. I’ve already stopped paying for a newsletter specifically for Candidly Christian. If it starts making a profit I can add that back in. So I’ll be doing a little more marketing and creating some paid resources to help support this ministry and my family.

This is also where my new website comes in. I’ve created it to help generate income. But there will be changes on Candidly Christian as well. And who knows, God could blow up my speaking ministry and that might be enough to cover my writing expenses.

If you want to donate, you can send checks to Heather Hart, P.O. Box 1277, Seymour, TX 76380. Okay, I’m kidding. Unless God lays it on your heart that is….

Here are some more practical steps to making this goal a reality…

Practical Steps to Make This a Reality

• Do more marketing
• Create paid resources to help Christian women
• Start a new website
• Get paid to speak at events

What Changes Are You Making in the New Year?

So there you have it. Those are my five resolutions for the new year. Starting today, I’m making changes.

What changes will you make for the coming year? Are you waiting for January first or are you starting today?