A New Year's Confession

And why I love Mondays

Confession: I don’t do New Year’s resolutions.

Blame it on my lack of discipline, my ADD, or my baby-of-the-family-there-should-be-a-way-that-doesn’t-involve-work mentality. Combine those qualities with the irregularity caused by various members of my family (together, we’re a hot mess of crisis creators destined for major life interruptions with each corkscrew of crazy we find ourselves spiraling through).

Whatever the cause, I just don’t finish well.

So an annual reset is way too daunting a dream for me to get behind. January 1st is just another day on my calendar. (Plus, it’s cold in January, and the vitamin D deprivation slays my determination before it makes it out of the starting gate).

But you wanna know what does motivate me to walk with a purposeful, passionate skip in my step?

Mondays.

I know, I’m weird, but, GOD, I love Mondays! I’m composing this newsletter on a Monday morning in my Starbucks office, and I’m alive with expectancy—and not from the caffeine buzz, although it helps.

Unlike the one in 365 occurrences of January firsts, Mondays are frequent enough to keep me on track. Mondays are therapeutic for me at a soul level. Mondays are for dreaming. Mondays are for starting over. Mondays are for breathing deeply, inhaling the aroma of freshly brewed coffee, and confidently anticipating a second chance at life.

Mondays are hopeful.

Mondays take the sting out of last week’s missed opportunities and perceived failures. Mondays remind me that God is still large and in charge, writing a new plot twist in a story that might have ended underwhelmingly the week before. Mondays are like a brand-new journal, with crisp, empty pages just waiting to be written in. They’re my weekly reminder that God’s lovingkindness always reappears in mint condition, and his faithfulness is as certain as a Monday-morning sunrise.

Mondays are the markings on the trees along a trail, every half mile or so, letting me know I haven’t completely lost my way. I may take a detour on Tuesday, get stuck in the briars on Wednesday, or plod through a mud puddle on Friday. And by Saturday, my prayer may be stripped down to a simple, “Lord, help me fall a little less far today.” But I’m sure of this: In just a couple short “sleeps,” I’ll be waking up to grace.

To a spirit-filled start-over.

To a compassionate reboot.

On a Monday.

A glorious, beautiful, wild-with-wonder Monday.

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Friends of UnPerfect, I’m excited about Season 6 of the podcast, which begins airing next month, on February 3! Every other episode will feature a new guest, while I’ll use the episodes in between to delve deeper into a topic from the previous conversation. I’ll also be rolling out a new weekly newsletter format (if you’re a Substack subscriber, you’ll be automatically added to that list).

What’s new for you? Drop a comment below with what motivates you to make needed changes in your life!

Blessings,

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Dec 31 Image by Eliza from Pixabay

Monday Image by Надежда Дягилева from Pixabay