A New Thing

Decided. That is supposed to be my word for 2026 but waking up on this 1st day of January in this new year I'm already hesitant.🙃 God often invites us into new things in a way that requires giving up our comfort and that can be scary. Still I chose decided because there’s so many things we need to build yet we leave them to chance and being sure about our wanted outcome is how we get it. So many times we think it’s best to do a go with the flow, nonchalant thing, and I get that; I was once the queen of nonchalantness and the ambassador of indecisiveness but something happened when I set my mind to a thing. Now we should reserve the right to change our minds because there’s wisdom in trust through uncertainty but there are some things we simply must be gung-ho for because they produce the desired fruit.

I had to be decided to run a marathon. Oh yeah, did y’all know I ran a marathon? Yep! I had to be decided to not give up during 26.2 miles. We have to decide to pay our bills every month because those things do not stop, and it’s the 1st, again. We have to decide to lose weight, to keep up our skin care regimen, to stay consistent before we see the benefits, right? To get really dope outcomes we must commit to travel the paths that lead to our desired goals. So to remain decided requires a level of dedication to an unknown thing and that feels… new.

For the marathon everyone kept saying focus on your “why”. Most are like “for my kids” or for “my this” or “that” and here I was simply doing it to stop having to explain the difference between the half marathon I had just ran and a full marathon. My why didn’t feel very powerful to me but honestly being decided may not be solely for you. Our lives are so much bigger than us and in the things we consider small is where God does remarkable stuff. In this new year maybe a new thing isn’t something we do it’s something we become, internally… Something God is doing to share new perspectives, to get us to new feelings and we simply gotta get out of our own way. Here’s how…

You can’t receive new things without making room. Old stuff takes up space. Old beliefs, habits, that we used to survive previously often hinder us on our journey so pack light. Emotionally, physically and spiritually, make healing a priority. Unresolved stuff can haunt you but if you face it, it won’t sneak up on you like my injury from 1999 did at mile 8 of the marathon in 2025.😮‍💨 My old injury flared up a few times during training but I thought a little extra stretching would suffice. …nah, rehab was needed. We must understand the magnitude of the injury to allow for proper healing. We’ve survived a lot, learned a lot, pretended like a lot didn’t faze us but it did. We gotta give God access to our old stuff, and get unafflicted. Not having the tools is ok, let Him guide you spiritually and to trusted people and professional resources for help. It will hurt so we should give ourselves the space to process pain. When we let God in we develop the grace for it so we can get through it, besides we either take the time to deal with the pain or it will take its time dealing with us.

Next, lean in to the pace of grace. Let’s decide to sprinkle grace everywhere! On ourselves, the past, strangers, let’s just practice not taking our actions or other’s actions to heart. Remember God made us all different, there is no comparison, He writes different stories at different speeds. When we live life less seriously we make room for fun and we definitely want our new things to be joyful. We must remember it’s a marathon, not a sprint, our goal is to simply finish without causing additional injuries.

Last but far from least prioritize rest and recovery throughout each and every journey. It’s strength in rest and recovery is vital. We must relax our minds, bodies and trust His process. We are not robots nor should we want to be. Rest and recovery are not wasting your life away it’s deciding to add super beneficial enhancements like naps and time to play, you know the things we insist kids do that us adults often forget the benefits of. Brené Brown discovered after 25 years of research that play and nothingness is the key to wholehearted living. Wholehearted Living sounds like a beautifully new thing and I've decided to let God clean up my past in anticipation for it. I have decided to rest, play and prioritize nothingness while following God without clarity, lol, sounds scary and fun but here I am, decided. Feel free to join me on this adventure of leaning in to the human gentle side of things. Hesitant yet hopefully making room for God to do a new thing.💋

Sincerely, Jam💛