12-12-21 Better You

Quote: “There is a version of yourself you haven’t met yet.  Keep showing up until you’re introduced.” – Jim Kwik

Now that I’m teaching older students this school year, there is not a day that goes by that I am not trying to inspire my students to think about the bigger picture.  Even at the age of 10, they know how important it is to come to school, work hard, and be of good character.  Elementary school is almost complete for them and middle school and high school are so near.  It is my job to help prepare them for more responsibilities and get them excited about bigger opportunities that are coming.  I want them to always be trying to be better than they were the day before.  To become comfortable with evolving and setting new goals.

Think back to the COVID pandemic.  Many of us in 2020 were hanging by a thread, not knowing what 2021 would bring.  2020 had been awful but would there be something new we would have to endure this year?  Would kids ever be safe enough to go back to school?  When would it be safe to travel again?  Would there be a way to end this pandemic?

There was probably a point during that time when we all doubted if we could survive all the stress that came with a pandemic.  But guess what we all did?  We kept showing up.  We didn’t give up.  We embraced the challenges, fell down a lot, but somehow kept the train moving.

I think we are going to have hard but great stories to share with our grandkids and great-grandkids someday.  How we survived.  How our character was strengthened even though the hits kept coming.  We got stronger in many areas – science, healthcare, technology, and education just to name a few.  We got creative.  We dug deep.

I think the version of you and I now is completely different than we ever thought it could possibly be.

We are new versions of ourselves every new year – because we have to be.  We are a people who can adapt to whatever comes our way.  Let’s keep blowing our expectations through the roof!  Let’s create bucket lists and goals for ourselves we never thought possible!  Let’s be brave.  Let’s set the bar high as we look forward to every new year!

Christians know the Bible says over and over that we are new creations, meant for so much more than we could ever imagine.  In an Old Testament book called Habakkuk, it says in chapter 1 verse 5, “Look at the nations and watch – and be utterly amazed.  For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.”

What an inspiring verse!  God has so much planned for us.  I believe he doesn’t show us the whole puzzle of our amazing lives because we wouldn’t believe it even if he did!  We’ve got to keep stepping up to the plate and be willing to keep trying to be the best version of ourselves, always willing to be better.  To do more and not be idle.  To make an impact on this planet.  To not give up.

I can’t wait to meet the next version of myself that God is going to help me to be.  Ask him to get you ready for the new “you” that you were created to be, at this time, in this season.