As I mentioned last week, my
husband, Jerry, and I have been trying to get over a bug. Well, bronchitis now.
It hasn’t made for a great start to the year. And January is always a
challenging time, because I am not a cold weather gal. In fact, I’m very
thankful my son and a couple of friends decided to have their birthdays in
January to give the month a little happy. When January 1 rolls around, I have
to get proactive to fight the cold, dark, often rainy days. It’s easy if your
resources are unlimited to book a flight to a tropical island and spend a month
basking in the sunshine, but most of us have to figure another way to navigate
nature’s nasty nods at the beginning of the year.
Ten suggestions in no way
conclusive or in any particular order.
1. Flowers. If you haven’t already done
this, go to a plant nursery and walk around. See what’s blooming and buy it. In
my area, that’s probably going to be a camellia, which comes in all kinds of
amazing colors. When the ground warms up to the point you don’t need a jack
hammer to dig a hole, plant the shrub and look forward to something wonderful
blooming in January next year. There’s nothing like having a pink bloom in your
yard smiling at you on a gray day. If you live in an apartment or are just not
a gardener, go to the grocery store and spend five dollars on a bouquet for
your office desk or dining table at home. Best money you’ll spend this month.
2. Set a creative goal for the month. For
me, that often means beginning a new fictional story, which I haven’t done in
quite a while. I also plan to complete a couple of paintings this month. When
February rolls around, it may have been gray outside, but I’ll have something
wonderful to show for the time spent indoors.
3. While
we’re talking about goals, this is a good time to set goals for the year. What do you want to accomplish? Get a list
going. Put them on your calendar so they stay before you.
4. Read a happy book. Or reread a happy book―nothing
where someone gets a terminal disease. Anything by Jan Karon usually works. I
especially loved her recent Come Rain, or
Come Shine. Or read gardening books, if that works for you. If I can’t
actually plant flowers, I can dream about what I will plant.
5. Especially focus on what God is saying.
That means keeping his word before you. So, make a point of reading your Bible
and devos every day. Keep yourself spiritually strong. I often will jot a verse
down and put it over the kitchen sink or on my desk. You’d be surprised how
quickly that verse gets commited to memory.
6. Try to keep the exercise going. Usually
there’s at least part of a day that works for Lucy and me to make our rounds.
7. Go to T.J. Maxx and study the new home
furnishings (They do not pay me to say that). I don’t usually buy anything,
but I get a few new ideas for how to freshen up what I already have. I can’t
tell you how many times that involves spray paint. While reading a Martha
Stewart Gardening book, I find she’s a big spray paint gal, too. Even made a
couple of Styrofoam garden containers look like burnished copper with the
stuff. Brightening the space you live in can help you and your family find a
refuge against the cold in more ways than one.
8. Take a class. My daughter is starting a
new oil painting class this month. January is the time new art, gardening, Bible Study etc.
classes usually begin, so check online to see who’s offering what. Many classes
are very affordable.
9. Be
intentional about setting up lunch dates. It’s a good month to really connect
with friends after the blur of December activity.
10. Finally, put some thought on
this particular verse, because I think it helps set the tone for the month.
“Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and
meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling,
gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to
praise, not things to curse . . . Do
that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most
excellent harmonies” (Philippians 4:8-9).
Happy January, anyway!