Lighting the Way Into a New Year
Every year, when January comes around, I feel this quiet urge to reflect. Not in a dramatic “new year, new me” way, but more like a pause. A chance to ask myself what I actually want my days to look like.
This year feels different.
I’m not chasing a version of myself that’s thinner, busier, or more accomplished. I’m craving purpose, rhythm, and peace. I want to feel rooted in my days, not rushed through them only to get to the evening and realize I didn’t actually do anything all day.
So, instead of strict goals or unrealistic expectations, these are the intentions I’m carrying into the new year.
This isn’t a waiting season, it’s a becoming one.
One of the biggest shifts in my heart this year has come from my husband. He’s helped me realize something I didn’t even know I was struggling with: this isn’t a season of waiting! It’s a season of preparation and growth.
While I wait to become a mother, I’m also becoming someone. Someone more patient, more grounded, more faithful. Although sometimes it may seem like it, time isn’t empty or on pause. It’s full of learning, healing, creating, and growing.
I’m incredibly blessed to walk through this season with someone who reminds me that every chapter matters, even the quiet ones.
1. Create without pressuring myself to perform
I love making things. Candles, little projects, ideas that slowly take shape. Creating brings me joy, but turning it into a “business” has often felt overwhelming.
This year, my resolution is simple: keep creating.
Not because it has to make money right away. Not because it has to be perfect. But because it gives me something that’s mine. Something that brings life and meaning to my days.
Progress over pressure. Joy over comparison.
2. Build a gentle, consistent routine
I’ve realized I feel my best when my days have a rhythm. Not a rigid schedule, just one with anchors.
This year, I want to return to:
Slow mornings with coffee and time with God. (scripture before screens)
Daily moments of stillness, even if they’re brief
Simple habits I can actually sustain
Consistency doesn’t have to be intense to be powerful.
3. Move my body with gratitude, not punishment
Exercise isn’t something I want to force anymore. I want to move because my body deserves care, not because I feel like I need to fix it.
Walking, stretching, light strength, movement that feels supportive instead of exhausting. Listening instead of pushing.
4. Grow spiritually, one day at a time
One of my biggest intentions this year is to be in the Word daily. Not to rush through chapters or check boxes, but to actually sit with it.
Even if it’s just ten minutes. I want to grow closer, not just more knowledgeable.
5. Step into things that feel intimidating, but empowering.
There are things I’ve put off because they feel uncomfortable or scary. This year, I want to gently face them.
Not to prove anything, but to feel capable and confident/. Safe in my own skin.
6. Release the pressure to “be further along”
This might be the most important resolution of all.
Life doesn’t move on a perfect timeline, and neither do dreams, healing, or purpose. This year, I’m choosing to trust where I am.
To stop rushing myself.
To stop comparing my chapter one to someone else’s chapter ten.
To believe that slow seasons still matter.
A softer way forward
If I’ve learned anything, it’s that the most meaningful changes don’t come from extremes. They come from small, faithful steps taken consistently.
So this year, I’m choosing intention over intensity. Grace over guilt. Purpose over pressure.
And I’m deeply thankful to walk this season alongside someone who reminds me that even now, (especially now) this life is meaningful.