Happy 2020!!! | Ringing in the New Year!

Happy 2020! Hard as it is to believe, we’re at the dawn of a new decade. I remember growing up viewing 1999 as a big deal and a New Year’s Eve we looked forward to with great anticipation (and trepidation=Y2K). And here we are, over 20 years later. What happened!?! How did we get here SO fast???

How did you ring in the New Year? 

Having taken a little break from blogging over the holidays, I’m looking forward to what this year will bring. It’s an exciting, unpredictable time here on Planet Earth. Admittedly, some of what’s happening in the world around us are unsettling and even frightening. But, we know that God is in control as He has always been since the very beginning.

Take a deep breath. Smile. 

Over the break, I learned that my bride wasn’t actually all that fond of her Sweet T moniker that I use primarily in this blog. So out with the old, in with the new. Going forward, I’m going to refer to the love of my life as Terrific T in this blog.

Terrific T and I enjoyed spending time with family over the holidays. We stayed in on New Year’s, watching a couple of movies and shows we like in addition to watching the ball drop in New York from the comfort of our living room. We devoured homemade tamales and blackeye peas New Year’s Day.

What are your goals for 2020?

The new year provides us with a great opportunity to recalibrate and reconsider our direction. We all have things we’d like to do better. I have a planner that hopefully will keep me on track in 2020 as I attempt to accomplish some goals and objectives in several areas, including faith, family, finances, and fitness. We’ll see how this goes. Resolutions are hard to keep. But, we keep trying.

One of the areas Terrific T and I are focused on is growing in our faith and understanding of who God is through the study of the New Testament. We’ve tried to a number of read-thru-the-Bible-in-one year plans in the past and failed miserably at them. Not because we don’t believe reading the Bible is a worthwhile investment, but primarily because it’s a big elephant to devour with our schedules. Hopefully, this New Testament Challenge will be something that allows us to spend time with God and with one another as we read through the New Testament together as man and wife. So far, we’re off to a great start beginning with a 21-day study of the Gospel of John. We’re incorporating Aaron Mitchell’s book, “The New Testament Challenge,” as a study guide to help us delve deeper into God’s word. You can learn more about Aaron, his writing and his ministry here.

We’re also hoping to build on our efforts to declutter and organize our home. Life with six cats makes that a bit tricky, but we made some forward progress in 2019 and look forward to building on those efforts in 2020. Like a lot of folks, we have accumulated lots of stuff over the course of our marriage and our lives. Also, our house is almost 40 years old and in need of some touching up. We’re looking forward to putting the finishing touches on our Laundry Room revamp in the next few weeks. In addition, to giving some spaces a facelift, we’ll continue decluttering.  A recent study reports that clutter can have negative impacts on our wellness.

I mentioned Terrifc T and I spent part of the holidays binging on movies and shows. One of our favorites is the Amazon Original, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” Created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” is an American period comedy/drama starring Rachel Brosnahan and featuring an excellent cast of characters. The show follows the exploits of a young female comedian in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It covers a breadth of topics including family relationships, marriage, and freedom of speech. The show is for mature adult audiences and does contain some words and scenes that might make you blush, so be forewarned. We like it because it’s well-written, superbly-acted, and authentic.

In addition to watching one of my favorite Christmas movies, “Die Hard,” several times, we caught reruns of 1983’s “A Christmas Story.” I had no idea that the movie had reached such a cult following. Frankly, I don’t remember it being that big of a deal back in the 80s. Go figure. We also watched the movies “The Aeronauts,” and “Downton Abbey.” In addition to these movies, we binged on the CBS supernatural drama “EVIL,” about a skeptical female clinical psychologist who joins a priest-in-training and a blue-collar contractor to investigate supposed miracles, demonic possession, and other extraordinary occurrences in hopes of discovering if there’s a scientific explanation or if something truly supernatural is at work.

As always, our days have been filled with work and ministry, as we seek to make God known to those God brings us into contact with during our everyday lives. We know that 2020 will offer more opportunities to share God’s love with a lost world desperate for the hope of Jesus Christ. This blog is one of the ways that I hope to continue making Jesus known. Thank you for continuing to read my posts faithfully. I pray that they are informative and encouraging to you as you journey through the new year.

To experience life the way God intended, you and I must receive God’s gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. This gift from God is available to all who ask. Will you personally receive the gift of eternal life so that you can experience the total forgiveness from your sins that come through believing in the atoning death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ?

Happy 2020!

For nothing is impossible for God (Luke 1:37)

Blessings,

The Devotional Guy™

ABOUT: The Devotional Guy™ is a writing ministry of Chaplain Rainer Bantau, a Swiss-born, German kid who grew up in East Texas and today ministers throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

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