Life inexorably moves forward. But forward movement does not always mean progress. One definition of progress is “advance or development toward a better, more complete, or more modern condition.” Movement in time will not automatically result in a better life but it does provide the space for progress. I have great hope for your life’s design by the end of 2017.
I use the word “hope” intentionally. It connotes longing with a personal quality, requires specificity, and implies a goal or desired outcome. Hope denotes a state of being that has not been realized but offers a clear picture of that state.
It is my hope and desire that 2017 will be a year when progress is made in the peripheral and concentric communities around you and your participation in them, not for your benefit alone but also for the common good of all.
It is my hope that, by the end of 2017, the design of your life will demonstrate progress resulting in a better, more complete life.
It is my hope that 2017 will usher in new strength of character for you in all those difficult moments when you have to make tough choices.
It is my hope that you will find renewed resolve in 2017 to courageously allow the sensitive side of your spirit freedom to give expression to feelings that may be hard to uncage.
It is my hope that you will discover richer, deeper meaning in relationships both near and far, long cherished and recently made, richly personal and distant though important.
It is my hope that you will discover a well of resources deep in your soul for living into the 2017 design for your life.
It is my hope that you will find freedom within a relationship with God through Jesus the Christ and not feel controlled or manipulated by him.
It is my hope that in being set free by God you will discover yourself in all your uniqueness, your richness, your reason for bing, your beauty, your personhood, your self.
It is my hope that progress in your life in 2017 means enhancing, refining, polishing who you are, and the 2017 design of your life will continue the progression toward completing the person you are meant to be—as my mom encouraged me, “Just be yourself, David.”
Just be yourself in 2017 and God will bless you, for it was his miracle of life that brought you into being—a unique human being.
