This morning I want to tell you about so many things that it’s difficult to narrow this post down to one subject! So I won’t try…I’ll just fire away and let you decide if anything grabs you.

#1 My new perspective for 2020 – An amazing thing happens when you get honest with yourself and start doing what you love, what makes you happy. Your life literally slows down. You stop wishing for tomorrow. You stop merely looking forward to some future event. You begin to live in the moment and you start feeling like the person you were called to be.

When you get honest with yourself you can follow the plan God has for you with contentment and joy. With God’s Word as a lamp, showing you the next step; and a light on your path, allowing you to see long-range where you’re headed, you can move fluidly, steadily, clam and grateful. With the power of God’s Word guiding you, a whole new perspective is born.

#2 As January ebbs away toward spring, and a new perspective emerges, I’ve had to stop and think about what’s really going to define this new decade. Which path leads toward the plans God has for me?
In the past season I was known by my passion for sharing the truth of God’s Word. I’ve presented Bible Studies at church and in other settings whenever an opportunity arose. I spoke to a group of women about God’s amazing grace in my life and the lives of my family. And, I thought the pattern would stay the same going forward with more studies and more invitations to present our testimony.

Wrong!

While it is true that God’s Word is my pleasure and my passion, I have learned it is not always possible to transfuse my intense emotion into others. That job belongs to the Holy Spirit.

The thing that makes up my identity in Christ–the God breathed Word, that gives me life–is only useful to others as seed for growth, scattered along their path.

God’s provision is in His promise. There are some 3,000 blessings in the Word, but if you don’t know them, you can’t claim them.

#3 My theme for the coming season then is found in Paul’s letter to the Philippian Church — “¹² I admit that I haven’t yet acquired the absolute fullness that I’m pursuing, but I run with passion into his abundance so that I may reach the purpose that Jesus Christ has called me to fulfill and wants me to discover. ¹³ I don’t depend on my own strength to accomplish this; however I do have one compelling focus: I forget all of the past as I fasten my heart to the future instead. ¹⁴ I run straight for the divine invitation of reaching the heavenly goal and gaining the victory-prize through the anointing of Jesus.” _ Philippians 3:12-14 (TPT)

#4 A review of the Contentment Cottage Blog and Facebook Page shows me that the areas I was passionate about a few years ago have been sadly neglected recently. The kitchen, garden and design studio were originally my basic components. The devotions and Bible studies took the back seat.

That’s all flip-flopped now. In this season you can search for recipes to cook, garden ideas and free-lance artists and the results will number in the millions, most of them coming up before the Cottage posts appear. The internet is not what it was a few years, even a few months, ago.

At the start of this year I contemplated getting away from Blogging and Social Media entirely. Since we were puny around here (some sort of bacterial infection, side-lined both of us from the end of October until early December) being away from the computer was not all that difficult. Thing is…even when I wasn’t posting, the hits kept coming! That told me God is blessing my efforts online. (Thanks to all of you who follow along so faithfully.)

So…while the structure of my Blogging has shifted toward devotional and inspirational writings…Contentment Cottage is NOT going away anytime soon. I’m happy about that!.

#5 and finally–as a result of some very positive response to my writing there are plans in the works to offer a couple of “books” through Barnes and Noble online in the coming season. There are still some details to be worked out, aren’t there always, but I hope to give you more information in the coming weeks. I’m still a bit uncertain about the whole deal. The first time the idea came up it didn’t exactly “fly!”

We’ll see.

Let me know what you think.