Happy 2014 everyone, and welcome to the kick off of Different Dream’s New Year’s Resolution series. The series will run every Monday and Friday for the first three weeks of January. Guest bloggers Steph Ballard, Amy Stout, Kimberly Drew, Sylvia Phillips, and Becky Hallberg will stop by to share their special needs parenting resolutions. Some will make you laugh, some will make you cry, and we hope all of them will get you thinking about how to approach 2014…which is what writing the piece below made me do.

I Will Be Grateful

New Year’s resolutions. Never before this year has the practice of setting them found a place on my January to do list. Mainly as a push back against the perfectionistic tendencies that cause me to latch onto goals with the tenacity of a pit bull. So why, I reasoned year after year, feed that beast?

Character Flaw Revealed

But this year. Well, this year, God changed my perspective about New Year’s resolutions by zeroing in on what I thought was a minor character flaw. As in, I thought it was a mere speck in my eye, but in reality it’s a log that needs plucking out.

Thank you very much, Sermon on the Mount.

The minor flaw log is a consistent lack of gratitude for anything–person, event, obstacle, suggestion–that does not match my agenda for the moment, hour, day, week, month, or current five year plan. After months of nudging pushing arm wrestling with me, God made it clear that he wants me to respond to the events of life, special needs and otherwise, with gratitude.

Gratitude for his sovereign ability to work every challenge and obstacle, every hurt and grief, every evil and injustice to good.

Character Flaw Redeemed

Though I’m not 100% sure what that will look like in every aspect of life, here are a few instances that come to mind:

• When the land line rings and interrupts prime writing time, I will be grateful for the chance to stretch while walking across the room to answer the phone…even when it turns out to be a robo-call.
• I will look at the pictures of my baby boy in NICU and be thankful for the tears that accompany the memories of his birth 30+ years ago. I will be thankful for this sweet and painful grief that binds together parents of kids with special needs.
• Instead of feeling guilty when a writing deadline means saying “no” to volunteering for something at church or in our community, I’ll thank God for this writing ministry and for moving me out of the way at church or in the community so someone else can volunteer.
• When a family member, friend, or stranger needs something God has uniquely equipped me to supply, I’ll thank God for replacing my agenda for the day with his.
• Rather than muttering under my breath when tech and computer issues arise, I’ll thank God for using them to grow my understanding.
• When the guilty voice in my head whispers, “You’re not a real special needs parent because your child is fine now,” I will not cave. But I will thank God for healing my child so I have the time to minister to parents actively caring for their kids with special needs.
• Each time I want to blame someone or something for latest blip in life, I’ll ask God to show me how to be thankful for his grace yet to be revealed in the situation. And I’ll ask for strength to wait faithfully and patiently for as long as it takes for his grace to become evident.
• As this New Year’s Resolution breaks and becomes tattered, I will thank God for his mercies which are new every morning. And then,  I will try again, grateful for a God who loves me, even when I fail.

Character Flaws Shared

Do you struggle with being grateful? Or has God revealed a different character flaw he wants you to address with his help? Share your resolutions, ideas, and encouragement in the comment box below. And come back on Friday, January 10 to learn about Kimberly Drew’s special needs resolution.

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