Mothers Group Reflection #11: Giving Our Yes To Jesus

Here we are, about to start a new year. For some of us, this is a time of great excitement. Many are planning new exercise regimens, some are hoping to take that leap of faith they’ve been putting off in one area or another. Some will plan the trip of a lifetime. Others may have had a very difficult year in 2018. Maybe they are just hoping to survive in the new year. New Year resolutions may be the last thing on their mind, as they are just trying to get through this minute, this second even. And then the next.

Personally, I’m not usually one for resolutions. I used to be though. I used to have a long list of things I hoped to accomplish. Find that dream job. Go to this place or that. Get in better shape with regular exercise or better eating habits. You name it. I guess I look back on those lists and wonder how many of those things I actually accomplished. Usually by March, the gym is back to its regulars (the ones who were already working out before January even came). Most of us have fallen back into old eating habits because frankly, most diets are not for real people. And like we have complete control over when we’ll find that job or whatever it is we’re looking for.

As the new year approaches, I’ve been thinking on this a lot lately. I admit, I still do not have a list of resolutions. Honestly, it hasn’t even really occurred to me until now to make one and I’m not necessarily planning to do so, even now, for one reason...those lists of mine have always somehow left off one key thing. Jesus. And I have to wonder if His list would look different than mine?

We all know that lasting change usually happens in small increments anyway. I think that is what leaves me a little jaded about all the resolution lists. At least in my own experience, they seem to be about self-determination and quick fixes. Like I will just pick a day to suddenly pull myself up by my bootstraps and get it together. Suddenly, I will always do the right thing (even though I’ve acquired a bad habit in one area or another, etc.) It doesn’t seem very realistic.

Before you think I’m totally ripping on lists too much, I do now see some point to them in theory, and to be honest, I have one resolution in mind. Actually, maybe two. One thing Jesus does need in our spiritual life is our cooperation, and better yet, He doesn’t leave us alone to do it all in our own power. He promises to do the heavy lifting, so that we, too, can say with the apostle Paul, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13 NRSVCE).

But we do have to come to a definitive point of giving Him our yes. Maybe that is why these lists are so poplar, as it gives us a day to rally the courage to do so, and we have the encouragement of others doing this alongside us. Maybe that moment for you is right now. Maybe you need a day or two to shore up your strength and January 1 will be your day. Either way, and no matter what day of the year you choose to say it, I hope your answer to Him and whatever area you might need to work on is a big “yes”! We aren’t just left to our own devices. There is a plan in mind, for our welfare and God’s glory, and a good one at that. "For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope" (Jeremiah 29:11 NRSVCE).

Yes, Jesus! I will follow your will. Yes, I will cooperate with Your plan. Yes, I will say no to that thing that keeps tripping me up. Yes, I will seek the help I need to deal with this problem or that. Yes, I will pursue Your plan for my life. And lastly, yes, I will say no to evil in all it’s forms with your help, grace and love because I certainly know I can’t do it alone!

What makes this day even more special for me this year, is that as I contemplate my own yes, I remember that on January 1^st, we are also celebrating the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God. Jesus also gives us His own mother as helper and protector and an example of what that whole-hearted yes looks like. The complete “yes” that led to the birth of the Savior of mankind in Jesus. We also have this holy day to slow down a little, go to Mass to celebrate this yes of Mary and the Gift it brought about, but also, in that slowing down, the time to reflect on these truths of our faith and ponder them in our own hearts, just as Mary did in the Nativity narratives.

I hope you are able to find some time this week to reflect on the year ahead, on that yes that Jesus asks from each of us, and in what area of your life that might be. But also to ponder in your heart the beautiful gift of Mary that He gives us to help us in our times of need in the year to come. She is always there, just waiting to shower us with her maternal love and devotion and intercession. We never have to be alone as we give that yes to Jesus, no matter what day of the year that may be. We have the ever-present encouragement of someone who has been there before and done it well! I wish you all a blessed New Year celebration!

Thoughts for further reflection:

What things will be on your list of resolutions for the upcoming year or will you even make a list? How can you include Jesus, and His strength to accomplish, into this list? What things do you think He would write on your list if He were physically sitting beside you?

Verse for the week:

“I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13 NRSVCE)

Photograph by Jan Kahanek, courtesy of StockSnap