New Year New You

"New year, new you," is a phrase I hear often during this time. We might have New Year's resolutions whether it is to shed a few pounds, start that journal, clear out that storage bin you've always remembered to forget, or making more phone calls or Zoom calls to friends and family. Whatever it is, making a resolution means you are saying that other times you've might not have been successful in reaching these goals, but the new year is a wind of optimism you might need to get to where you want to go.

I was thinking about this earlier when I was talking to my son. As a ten year old boy, this year has been really hard for him. Unable to play sports, run around the playground, and beach as often as we used to, unable to see his friends at school or anywhere else, he's had a few moments of real sadness and feeling powerless. The other day I wrapped my arms around him and said, "I promise 6th grade will be a great year. It'll be great because you can play soccer again, start all your extra curricular activities, you can see your friends, learn in school, we'll go to the beach as often as we once did, and you'll appreciate every minute of it." He looked at me with hopeful eyes.

My New Years resolution is to be grateful for every ounce of normalcy we reach in the 2021. With over 5.9 million people that have been vaccinated, and with 21.4 million more doses being sent to states right now, I'm bracing myself for things to slowly turn back to normal. I know my hopefulness is premature as we are hitting 3 triple digit cases on Oahu, but with the vaccine roll out, I am eagerly waiting week by week, month by month for our lives to go back to normal. My resolution is never take for granted the feel of the hymnal on my fingers as we sing together in worship, to stop and appreciate every coffee hour small talk as I eat my donut and coffee. My resolution is to appreciate every hug and every hot meal I can have in the company of good friends. My resolution is to never forget how we were able to connect, do our ministry, and to serve our church against all odds, despite all our obstacles. My resolution is to appreciate the "normalcy" of human connection as a God given gift.

I look forward to what this new year has in store, because it will be with fresh eyes that understand the value of things, I never thought twice about. What resolutions, hopes, and goals do you have for 2021? I would love to hear about them via email keolumana@gmail.com!