On today's conversation, let's talk about going
beyond the New Year's resolution. But wait, wait,
wait, don't tune me out just yet. We're not going
to talk about setting New Year's resolutions
and all of those things because that is, we've
already moved past that. We are going to talk
about going beyond the New Year's resolutions
and what that looks like for us in our day -to
-day life. Okay, welcome back to the Live Out
Loud podcast. I am your host Kim Kirkfleet and
I am so glad that you are joining me today for
our conversation of going beyond New Year's resolutions.
We are going to have so much fun as we unpack
this concept that I have been just sitting with
for quite some time and it's just exciting to
talk about it with you. This idea actually started
out with a question that I had. um a few weeks
back as I was reading the book Rhythms of Renewal
by Rebecca Lyons. I'm I think I'm pronouncing
her name correctly but this book is phenomenal
and I was reading it paired with The Life Giving
Home Experience by Sally Clarkson um written
with her son Joel Clarkson as well and Both of
them have such rich information, beautifully
written. If you have not read those in any season
of life, they are great to start a new season.
And the life giving home experience is actually
broken up into 12 months. So it can be a little
bit easier reading if you just want to read one
chapter once a month. But the rhythms of renewal
is also very beautiful and very good information
in there. Very applicable and just little nuggets
that you can take with you. But anyway, I was
sitting with these books, reading through them
and setting my expectations for the for the new
year, for the coming year. And as I would flip
pages and read more and more, I could feel my
guilt just rising because if we're honest with
ourselves, I think so many times we set goals
at the beginning of the year, just like the rest
of the world. And a few weeks in, they collapse
and we do not meet our expectations. Right. So
with each paragraph read I felt resistance for
myself of just just the guilt in my head knowing
that in just a few short weeks this was not going
to apply and so I I closed the book and I sat
in my guilt and I actually Sat with it before
the Lord, you know He's a good father whenever
he lets you sit before him in your guilt and
in your questions and just bring them to him
and he allows space for that. Isn't that such
a good father? So I was sitting in the tension
of wanting to set new, not goals, not resolutions,
because that's not my favorite thing, but just
as the book said, right, rhythms, new rhythms,
and that's what I wanted. But I was caught in
the tension of setting new rhythms and also knowing
that perhaps in a few weeks, they were going
to dissipate. By the way, I should say that at
the time of reading these books and sitting before
before the father in this moment I was in a loud
gym watching my children play basketball and
It wasn't a quiet morning with a cup of tea next
to a beautiful window watching the snowfall.
It was in a crowded noisy basketballs going everywhere
room where sat before the Lord with my questions
and he so graciously met me in that moment and
he actually took me to a verse in Romans 12 Romans
12 verse 2 do not conform to the patterns of
this world, but be transformed by the renewal
of your mind Okay, so I have this gentle reminder
in this verse, but how does that apply to my
to my question to? Knowing that in just a few
weeks I may fail at what I'm trying to set. And
this is what I want to speak to today, to us
mamas who are listening, tuning in, who are feeling
like we have already not met our expectations
or already fallen short of expectations of others
this year. And if that's you today, sitting here
thinking these thoughts, great, wonderful, join
the club. We are so glad that you are here. And
if that's not you, if you're on the other side
and you are crushing your new year, great! Wonderful!
Join the club! We are so glad that you are here.
But for every one of us today, I want to put
out this challenge of going beyond the new year's
resolutions, of going beyond the things that
we have set for us in this new season and checking
off our lists every day and just marking them
off like, okay, I've done that. But instead,
looking inward, and taking a moment to see how
our hearts and minds are being transformed like
Romans 12 2 says be transformed by the renewal
of our minds how am i not only achieving my outward
goals but how am i being transformed daily by
the father allowing him to speak truth to my
days allowing him to speak truth to my mind and
my heart How am I being renewed by the good,
good Father daily? Because I have a little newsflash.
Anytime that we are trying to operate in our
own strength, we will fall flat out on our faces.
I can attest to that very much. But anytime that
we are being renewed by the Father and allowing
him to speak truth into our minds, into our hearts
and spirits, that, that will carry us further
than our every one of our human attempts, but
being renewed is not a once a year thing. It's
not a once in January and then it'll carry out
for the rest of the year thing. This is a daily
thing for us as humans. Because I don't know
about you, but... I need to be renewed multiple
times a day by the spirit who speaks truth to
my life and reminds me of whose I am, who I am,
what I am, all of those truths, which takes us
right into applying this concept to our life.
As I was reading my books, I was making lists
in my head of the things that would make for
a great year for a great, um, yes, mom and person
coming into the new year. and I began breaking
them down in the question of how will this what
I'm thinking on and what I want to accomplish
impact myself and impact my family in regards
of the kingdom of God. I know it sounds a bit
different but whenever I take my list and I say
okay I don't just want it to be about checklists
and getting things done. I want it to be life
giving. I want it to breathe the life of God
into our family, into my life. What will that
look like? And when you do this, you actually
start to see the things that you want to do in
a different light because now it's less about
what I want to accomplish. And now I'm asking
God, what do you want me to accomplish? Which
is where we should start to begin with. But so
often we don't. many of us set goals to work
out hard in the new year and starting at the
end of last year I was getting so many ads on
my on my Instagram or on the platforms I was
on showing just mom's workout and this is your
new workout routine for the new year pushing
this idea to so many of us because that's where
we're going to start most likely of course this
workout is going to be on most of our lists But
I want to challenge us in thinking about why
it is we are doing the things we are doing and
why it is we're writing down the things we are
writing down. It's one thing to say, I'm going
to work out because I want a better looking body
or I want abs or I want more strength. But it's
another to look at scripture and say, why do
I want to work out? Which sounds silly, but don't
write me off yet. So why do I want to work out
in light of scripture, in light of the word of
God? First of all, what does God say about my
body? What does He say that I am? I am the temple
of God. Okay, so let's start right there. Renewing
our mind doesn't mean writing off everything
that we've already put down. Renewing of our
minds just means lining it up with the Word of
God. Lining it up with His kingdom, with what
He says about us. If I wanted to read more books
this coming year, great! Don't just grab books
off the shelf to read because you want to meet
your quota. Think about the books that we are
reading. Are they good and beautiful? Do they
speak truth and life? Dear listener, this is
my challenge to you today. Romans 12 to do not
conform to the patterns of this world, but be
transformed by the renewal of your minds every
day. Sit before God and ask him to transform
your minds. And when we fail to meet our our
lists, our resolutions, our goals, That's okay
because the renewal of our minds, the transforming
of our minds, is every day. It's not one and
done. It is every single day. And when that sweet
process of transformation begins to happen, it
will bleed over into every area of our life,
even the goals that we have set, because we will
begin to see our goals, our lists, in a whole
new way. we will begin to accomplish certain
things not because we have to but because we
want to and honestly some of the things on our
list may go away and we may take them off or
replace them with other things. So to wrap our
time up together all I'm asking is will you join
me this year in going beyond our new year's resolutions?
Will you dig deeper with me to find the truth
behind the why of the things we do. Will you
join me in transforming our minds together and
renewing our hearts and souls and minds to align
with that which the Father has spoken over us?
I know I will be joining you. And no, I'm not
going to get it perfect. I am going to fail.
I know that. But I'm going to try. I'm here for
it. I'm here for the renewal of my mind, of my
life. And I am saying yes, I'm all in. Let's
go. That wraps up our time together today on
the Live Out Loud podcast, but tune in for our
next conversations in which I will be talking
about a practical application of reframing our
day, which we do as a family and it really does
work wonders and beautifully whenever put into
practice. Don't forget to check us out on Instagram
or on our website at ellieandtheboys .co. That's
ellieandtheboys .co. where I share motherhood
moments, daily rhythms, and just intentional
living as a mom of four very active young children.
Have a wonderful and blessed day, dear mama.
Until next time.