White horses and a cup of tea (part 2: A theme)

(picking up where we left off in part 1...)

And that brings us to this year.  This year I wasn't going to make any New Year's resolutions.  I was like "meh, who cares?"

But then, two things grew naturally in my mind, goals for this year.  (The first one will take three posts, and then I'll share the second one after that.)

(Plus, I think I'll keep trying the "talk less, listen more" resolution, too.  I could always use more of that.  And I think I'll add "try to stop speaking negative things."  That won't be easy.  I do far too much of that.):

A Theme: 

This is going to be my "white horse" year.  

"What's a 'white horse'?" you ask.  

Well, I'm glad you asked.  I'll tell you.  

Another great sermon: What if love meant more than you thought?

Before I get to part 2 of "White Horses and a cup of tea," here's another great sermon from Willow Creek (they're on a roll): 

What If Love Meant More Than You Thought?

A sermon like this is especially needed in this "outrage culture" where people spend their days looking for things to be angry about, for people to lash out at.  Ugh.

But there's a better way.  It doesn't have to be like this.  We don't have to let the news and social media lure us into an ever-increasing spiral of hopelessness and discouragement, antagonizing us into hating life and everyone around us.

White horses and a cup of tea (part 1)

I generally don't make New Year's Resolutions.  I mean I do sometimes, but I don't really see the point because they never last.  It's often more fun making the resolution than keeping the resolution, isn't it?  And so what started out as a grand idea on January 1st becomes a grand flop by January 31st.  We can waste more time planning and daydreaming about our resolutions than actually doing them, am I right?😁  

(Besides, if it's important enough, we'll do whatever it is when we're motivated enough to do it, regardless of the time of year.)  

And so instead of any grand resolutions these past several years, I've been trying to think of more light-hearted things to "resolve" to do throughout the year, relaxing things.  

Who says resolutions have to be lofty or serious anyway?

Such as these resolutions from the past several years:

A great sermon to start 2026

I watched this online Willow Creek sermon yesterday from a new series called The Jesus Way, about the Sermon on the Mount... and I just gotta share it because I haven't heard a sermon this good in awhile.  In fact, it's one of the best I've heard in a long time.  A great way to start 2026!  

Maybe it just said what I needed to hear at this point in my life.  Maybe it won't speak to you the same way.  But, who knows, maybe it will.  Give it a try.  What've you got to lose?  

I am Little Drummer Boy

Merry Christmas late.  And Happy New Year early.

I've shared this before but I'll share it again:

My all-time favorite classic Christmas song has got to be the Little Drummer Boy.   If I’m listening to this song and start to think too much about it, I start to well up with tears.  Every time.

My sons occasionally ask me why this is my favorite Christmas song.  

“It’s stupid and it doesn’t make sense,” they say.

Hardest Spiritual Lesson #8: Matthew 6:33

The second to last "hardest lesson" that many of us will face on our spiritual journeys (though there's more I haven't covered, so these are just a few):

Seeking God’s Kingdom and Righteousness

(This will be a long one because there is much to say about it.  And I am drawing in a lot that I wrote in other posts because I think it is all worth repeating again and again.)

Matthew 6:33: “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

We all know that we are supposed to be seeking righteousness and God’s Kingdom.  But are we actually doing it?  And do we really even know what that means? 

The reason I ask is because our country is getting so lukewarm and relativistic about spiritual things.  Whole denominations are drifting away from Biblical Christianity and becoming social clubs where the speakers tickle the ears of the congregation and make them feel warm and cozy and comfortable.  

But that is so not what Jesus did or what the Bible is about. 

Hardest Spiritual Lesson #7: Accepting Love and Forgiveness

 Another lesson that's really hard for many of us: Letting Yourself Be Loved or Forgiven (note: there's a bonus section at the end of this post).

Not everyone will face this lesson, but those with broken pasts will know what I’m talking about.  One of the hardest lessons I have had to learn in my spiritual life (and in my earthly life) is to let myself be loved by someone ... by Someone. 

I come from a very dysfunctional home.  Three dads by the time I was 8.  And then another dad (after a very messy divorce) when I was in my late-20's/early-30’s.  I didn’t grow up with my bio-dad or his family.  I didn’t even really meet them until my teens.  And then after that, I’d see them about once or twice a year, sometimes less.  I never really felt like I belonged to a dad or had a place in my extended families (or that my mom was an emotionally-safe person, so I never went to her for encouragement or leaned on her for emotional support - EVER!).  

And this feeling carried over to my relationship with God.

Hardest Spiritual Lessons #6: Accepting God's Timing

 Learning to be okay with God’s Time and God’s Way

A.k.a.: Learning to Trust

(Somewhat of a continuation of #5: Just do your job)

1 Peter 5:6-7: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.  Cast all your anxieties on him because he cares for you.”

In due time!  Such a scary thought for us.  Such a hard thing to accept and to wait for.  How hard it is to humbly submit our lives to the Lord’s timing and way.  But if we want to have the kind of life He wants for us, then we have to learn to humble ourselves before Him and to wait for Him to lift us up - in His time and in His way.

But we're too anxious for that, aren't we?  Too hasty?  Too self-focused?  We want what we want when we want it.  We have our own ideas of how and when things should happen.  We have dreams we want to fulfill, plans we want to succeed, goals we want to achieve, and prayers we want to be answered... NOW!  And yet sometimes, time goes on and things aren't working out the way we hoped or expected, and so we pray some more, but nothing happens, which makes us more discouraged and leaves us wondering if God is even listening.  Or maybe there's something wrong with us and our faith?  

Juni Desiree's beautiful art and heart

 This is a section from a future post, which shows this painting I once did:

This was my favorite one, the first one I ever painted like this.  

And it graced my wall for a few years... until I gave it away to a dear online friend from Australia, Juni Desiree (we met online in the comment section of a blog she used to have).  It was the only way to say "thank you" for something amazing she did for me: dedicating to me a book she published of pictures she drew about her mental health journey.  

Here's a YouTube video on it: The Art of Mental Health: Book Launch!!!! (at 5:04 you can see the "Dedication: For Heather" page"😊), and here's where you can buy it: The Art of Mental Health Ebook - Etsy Australia.  

Hardest Spiritual Lesson #5: Just do your job

Finally, another "hardest spiritual lesson."  And the rest are coming up over the next several posts.

Obediently Doing Your Job and Letting God Do His

Okay now, be honest and raise your hand if you like to lead instead of follow?  To push through with your plans and make things happen?  To set your own rules and goals?  To follow your dreams?  To stand in the spotlight? 

Our world values go-getters and leaders - people who succeed, who make the impossible possible, who dream big dreams and make them come true.  It doesn’t put much value on people who shine the spotlight on someone else, who spend their lives in service to someone else, who work quietly in the background, or who follow and obey what someone else tells them to do.  It doesn’t respect submission, obedience, and following, not nearly as much as it does autonomy, self-reliance, and leading.  

And so the world can’t really understand or value Christians who live for the Lord.  

But God does.