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"In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps". Proverbs 16:9

There's a story behind everything we do. Right or wrong - good or bad, if you take the time to look deep enough, you will always find a motivating factor that explains our behavior. Before my recent retirement, I worked in mental health for twenty-five years. With every client, there was a story. Some stories were so laden with trauma that the person often did not have a clue about their own identity. In contrast, other life stories were mild regarding problematic issues, making it easier to find a resolution: problems that were not resolvable were managed correctly.  

If you happen to be a person whose life has been laden with one traumatic episode after another, or you've had to deal with mental health challenges on any level. You may find it challenging to get through each day, let alone plan for a new year. I reflect upon this in today's devotional because it reflects the experience I shared with you in yesterday's story about the second church I pastored. A few years before I became the next senior pastor, the church split, and unfortunately, that wasn't the first time. This time, the church loss well over fifty percent of its membership. The members who remained were traumatized and left in need of spiritual, mental, and emotional healing. Instead of planning for the future, many members found it more challenging to get from one Sunday to the next. That may be your experience as well. How can you plan for a bright future when you find it almost impossible to make it from one day to the next? People often make New Year's resolutions but only maintain consistency for a few weeks or months before reverting to business as usual. The Prayer and Preparation Period is not only about setting goals and objectives. It's also about creating a personal mission that drives you, and a vision of who and what you dare to become. To achieve this, you must identify and label traumas/problems and not be afraid to work through them.  

For Day 7 of the Prayer and Preparation Period, don't be afraid to identify the problems and/or trauma that remain in your life. List them next to the goals you've developed for the coming year, and consider what it will take to resolve or manage the trauma/problems you face. The answer may not be straightforward. It may take pastoral counseling/guidance, therapy, life coaching, mentorship, and other considerations. Whatever it takes, I know you can achieve, because with Christ, all things are possible. 

As you prepare for what life has in store for you today, imagine the kind of year you would like to experience in 2026 and ask yourself: Am I ready? 

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