Mental illness runs rampant in our world, resulting from an enemy who attacks us at our innermost being. Depression has marked my life for more than two decades. I was a self-harmer in high school, cutting my arms and hiding them as best I could.

Three weeks into January, and I’ve already faltered on my New Year Resolutions. Anyone else? 🙋🏻‍♀️

Sometimes we feel like we get a fresh start, like a new year or a career change, and not too far in, we lose our footing.

We have a strong resolve to change our lives through all sorts of self-improvement habits, from budgeting better to cooking healthier to getting organized. In thinking about this yearly practice of resolutions, I couldn’t help but to think about some of our Bible heroes, living their ordinary lives, and what I learn from them about working towards my own goals.

Have you heard of people selecting a “word of the year”? Perhaps you have always wanted to have your own word, but you have been intimidated by adding another commitment, something else to hold you in a box. Or you think it’s cheesy, unnecessary practice and will just get in the way of your REAL New Year’s Resolutions, like reading 107 books this year or running a {virtual} marathon. You might be someone like me who already embraces the idea and have your word picked out. No matter who you are, if you aim to live intentionally in 2021, there is something here for you.

No doubt 2020 has taught us all lessons. We’ve learned practical things like:

Tips on looking our best on Zoom calls and the best angle to avoid other people in our homes

Proper hygiene practices like washing our hands (in case we didn’t know)

How to read a map for both pandemic spread and election results

Learning how many days in a row we can go wearing pair of leggings

Perfecting homemade sourdough bread

We make the heroes of stories invincible and the enemies super villains. The reality is most of us wake up each day with our intentions, our plans, our challenges, expecting life to turn out one way but experiencing something entirely different. I’ve been captivated with exploring the humanity and ordinariness of the overly familiar Christmas nativity characters. Of all years, I can relate to unexpected twists and turns. This is the year.