A New Year’s relationship resolution

By Patti Garibay, Op-ed Contributor Friday, December 31, 2021

As we prepare for the new year, we give time to pause and take a personal inventory on our successes and challenges from the past year. We resolve to “do better” and become thinner, more disciplined, and more organized in the fresh year.

For me, this past year seemed to be a blur of activity and as a result, I am resolving to simplify my life. Perhaps the loss of my dear mother and my brother-in-law, in conjunction with the remaining variants of the global pandemic, economic crises, supply chain issues, global mental health epidemic, brings me to this conclusion.

Death and illness certainly put a halt to “our” plans, interrupt “our” life’s rhythm, and force us to be introspective and realize the importance of our health and the reality of our eventual mortality. These events also bring a much-needed perspective to what is important in our life’s journey.

So, I want to simplify. I want to major on the majors. I want to love without condition. I want to serve where I am needed. I want to cheer a lonely soul. I want to instill values in a generation whose world seems so fast-paced, so confusing, so cluttered that “simplicity” is a bad word and “quiet” is when you’re texting rather than talking on the phone.

How do I accomplish this? By catching the moments that surround each of us to leave a little imprint on another’s heart. These quiet, unscheduled moments of time are the optimal times to teach values to a young girl or to encourage a struggling teen.

I am resolved to forget the pile of dishes when my grandson wants to build a tower and talk to him about God’s power. I want to warn my sweet great-niece of the dangers that come with her new cell camera phone while encouraging her in building strong friendships face-to-face. I want to cook a gourmet meal for the family whose breadwinner just lost their job. I want to drop a card to the widow who lost her beloved husband last year but misses him every day. And I want to teach tomorrow’s mothers the importance of caring beyond their walls and loving unconditionally as Christ loves us.

The AHG ministry accomplishes this through its community of volunteers and members. It is my prayer that each of us individually and corporately can resolve to simplify our lives, major on the majors, and love one another without reservation. Pause, breathe, reflect, and act. Influence another’s life for the good this year by seizing an unscheduled moment in time.

May your relationship with our Father grow in the New Year and may you find the joy and peace that knowing Him can provide.

For more than two decades, Patti Garibay has been at the forefront of countering the culture by leading girls and women to creating lives of integrity. She is the Founder and Executive Director of American Heritage Girls (AHG), a national Christ-centered leadership and character-development program. She helps thousands of girls discover their true identity and purpose in Christ through AHG’s transformative programming. Patti is the author of Why Curse the Darkness When You Can Light A Candle?, which is a story of trust and obedience to inspire those who desire to make Kingdom impact yet struggle with the fear of inadequacy