We are well into our second month of the year and time is getting away if you have not started on your goals for the new year. I’m not sure if you typically make annual goals or not, but this was by far the longest I’ve waiting to write out my goals. I didn’t do them until the end of January. But, I was excited to know I still have goals! Goals are a funny thing. They are very important to some and just one more thing to another person. Then, there are times when you have new ideas of what you’d like to do and no matter how hard you try, you feel you are falling behind and not making much progress.

I serve on a board where the people we serve really struggle with addictions in their life. One of my favorite times is when a person has been sober for one year. The men get a watch from us and the women get a string of pearls. Each item represents one moment at a time: the second-hand ticking each second away and one pearl strung on individually to make the completed necklace. Each day, each minute, and each second, the men have the opportunity to choose whether they will stay clean or not. Each time the women wear their necklaces, they are reminded that the beauty was created one pearl at a time.

That’s really what our lives are about: living each day at a time. Our goals are to be living out what God has given us as gifts. What are your talents? Do you live them out in such a way that God is glorified daily just by people seeing you live your life? What are your weaknesses? Each day, each second, we are given the option to walk closer to God or to walk away. Each necklace is not magically made. The beauty of each strand of pearls is made by putting on one pearl at a time. It’s time-consuming. It’s one decision made after another decision. Living a life for God will not happen magically. We walk daily in the hard times of when we can’t see the hole in the pearl to attach it to the thread and we likewise walk daily when it’s easy to get the pearl on the necklace.

Life is made up of both good and hard times. Goals might be a way for you to stay on track. Knowing to Whom you belong might be the best goal to keep in your forefront! Do not get discouraged when hard times come your way. Taking each day…one day at a time…will help remind you that God is good, He walks beside you, and He longs to make your life the most beautiful pearl necklace or most classic-looking watch.

If you’d like to learn more about CrossBRIDGE, Inc. and contribute to those looking for a fresh start, read here.

© 2018 Susan M. Sims

Picture courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net/araelf

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