Remember how great it felt to think "This is it!" at the beginning of the year? You found the ultimate calendar, a perfect balance of funny, inspired, and informative, just like the new you. 2009 would be the year to truly connect – to people, the environment, a healthy body, and energized spirit.

You started by filling the calendar with birthdays of close friends and family. Then anniversaries. You moved on to the basics: school, choir, church, work, practices, and weekly get-togethers. You jumped ahead to planning resolutions. Morning meditation and exercise, home-cooked meals, budgeted shopping trips, recycling, and family games nights. How can your calendar reflect your plan to be less scheduled, more "in the moment"? Aha! Trading pen for pencil, you drew squiggles around the edges and added question marks to the less sure plans.

Back to the pen: 4:45am reflect on the beauty of a new day? 5:15am gym? 6:30am home, shower, and start the "real" day? Mornings are frantic; maybe move some resolutions to evening. But that was easy-going family time with home-cooked, well-balanced, organic meals and carefully ordered game nights. Maybe one of those nifty minute-by-minute day planners would help.

Gaining Speed to Nowhere

New calendar in hand, you saw each page labeled from 7am to 8pm. Hmm. Devotions, work-outs, and showers would come naturally, no schedule needed. So you filled in the rest. Sloppy scheduling might lead to lax resolutions, so you switched to a daily "to-do" list on the side.

Really now, getting out of bed was a workout and you move around all day; why bother with exercise time? Come to think of it, pizza covers most of the food groups. And the organic thing was over-achieving to begin with. So was waking up before the day's page even started. As for recycling doesn't it take energy to reuse all those cans? Wouldn't it be better to wait for more experts to debate?

Now you're here. Two months into 2009 and you've given up. The pants you bought before the holidays are tight; they must have shrunk in the dryer. You don't quite know what's going on in any one family member's life, but when things calm down you'll insist on family time. And those ads with starving polar bear babies are sad, but you aren't too sure about that global warming thing, and anyway-could a couple of recycled cans really help?

Step by Step

We've all been there in our own way. But then we just sit for a moment and breathe. We realize that each and every day can be a fresh start, a chance to spend time in His Word to discover what's important to us and what isn't. We learn how we might need to change and build our willingness to do so, seeking a balance in life that sustains us and allows us to grow.

Some of us dedicate ourselves to the gym, some cut out sodas, some actually take the stairs instead of the elevator. We slow down and appreciate the blessings every day brings. We gradually make a point to a make a point when it's important to us.

We recycle and cut back from our five pop-ins to the store each day. We discover that once every four days is fine, or weekly, or even monthly. But we start noticing our behaviors and pay attention to the details that help us. We notice the smiles on others' faces and realize they matter more than the truck that sped up we tried to merge in front of it. We realize produce from the farmer's market is a perfectly acceptable snack, and when combined with time spent with loved ones it can even beat out cookie dough ice cream with a side of candy bars. Day by day and step by step our journey continues for His Creation.