God is the solution to New Year’s resolutions

CINDY TRANE CHRISTESON

“I said to the man at the gate of the year, ‘Give me a light that I

may go forth into the unknown.’ And the man replied, ‘Put your hand

into the hand of God. That shall be to you better than a light, safer

than a known way.’”

-- KING GEORGE

“You’d think it was New Year’s Eve or something,” I said to my

husband, Jon, as I unloaded more groceries. He looked at me and

smiled, and we both laughed, because it was, in fact, New Year’s Eve.

I made two trips to the market that day. I thought I’d bought all

I needed, only to find that I’d forgotten eggs and an essential

ingredient for the hors d’oeuvres that I’d planned to make for the

evening. There is something clearly lacking in a pesto dip if there

is no pesto in it.

I smiled at my checker and asked how her day was. She said it had

been busy, asked if I preferred paper or plastic, and then looked at

me quizzically.

“Weren’t you in here earlier today?” she asked.

I explained my second trip while she checked the eggs. While

paying for my items, I heard a woman talking behind me.

“I am disillusioned by resolutions,” the woman said on her

cellphone. She laughed, listened a moment, chuckled and then asked,

“What is the solution to resolutions anyway? Is there one?”

A friendly young man bagged my groceries and made a comment I

heard several times that day: “My resolution is to not make any

resolutions.”

I thanked him, and as I left, he told me to have a nice evening

and added, “Why make them if you’re only going to break them?”

I am no expert on resolutions, but I think about them every year

-- some years I’ve made them, some I haven’t. I didn’t formally sit

down and make a long list like I have before, but I did take some

time alone a few days before New Year’s Eve. I enjoyed being with

family and friends and all the fun and festivities of the busy

holiday season. It’s a treat to share stories around the table, but

one day, I woke up and realized that though I’d eaten many wonderful

meals, my spirit felt hungry.

I went to my room, turned off the phone and asked God what I was

missing. I didn’t hear anything audible, but the longer I sat, the

more I realized that it was God who was missing from my life.

Too many mornings, I woke up and asked God to help me accomplish

what I thought was necessary, only to realize I hadn’t taken any

quality time alone with him to ask what he might want for me, each

day and in the new year. The less time I spent alone with him, or

asking him for guidance for the day, the more I worried about things

that weren’t as significant as relationships with him or others.

I asked for his forgiveness and guidance. On a walk later that

day, I passed a couple holding hands. I smiled at them and thought

about God. I think that God is the solution to my resolutions. I

don’t know all that the new year has in store, but I’d like to walk

through it holding hands with God.

And you can quote me on that.

* CINDY TRANE CHRISTESON is a Newport Beach resident who speaks

frequently to parenting groups. She may be reached via e-mail at

cindy@onthegrow.com or through the mail at 537 Newport Center Drive,

Suite 505, Newport Beach, CA 92660.