The New Year Hype- The Tagline

I am exceedingly grateful to God  for the end if this year and the beginning of the next year, looking forward to publishing my book!!!. God has been good.

Its the end of the year again and honestly I try to keep from rolling my eyes . Keeping in mind that I have made a promise to myself and God to keep this blog positive, I cant help be authentic and throw out a question that ignites discussion and personal growth. Even putting my thoughts on the blog helps me analyze the situation and discover areas I may need to grow. Or areas where I have thought wrongly.

I have been entrenched in the Nigerian church culture all my life  though my relationship with God has not mirrored that consistency. I am at a point where I am tired of the cliché.

I wonder does every new year need a tag line? Does every year need resolutions that will be forgotten by February? Can I discover that I am deficient in a certain area of my life in November and take steps to correct it  right then?

I look at my walk with God as a marathon, its not the same for everyone but in my case, undergoing Gods processing has taken dogged resilience, determination, patience, shutting down of my feelings and perseverance.  I have come to the conclusion that I  trust God regardless whether its 2013 or 2014 or 2015 and I feel these taglines place unrealistic expectations on the next year. If the goal is to make the brethren expectant for the new year then I guess a tagline serves it purpose that way.

In the context of Proverbs 23:18 - Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long. For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.
There has to be some expectation to be able to receive from God. But I wonder shouldn't that be the life of a believer regardless of whether its a new year or not?

Personally, I used to buy into the hype when I was younger  and I have left the year feeling a little let down. I wonder if its because of my lack of understanding of what exactly God was trying to tell me through his prophets. I have learned the hard way that the new year is what you make of it, make a personal tagline for your own  year and keep it. Admittedly,  I am a little cynical ( I am trying everyday to be less so) , but to me a new year is just that...a new year,with new blessings, new challenges, changes, growth, new friends, old friends  etc. In the same token,  I cannot take God's blessing of another year for granted.

I am at a point where I would like to strike a balance between being expectant for the new year, understanding the real purpose of the tag line and even realizing that GASP its not all about me. Someone in church may have had a really bad 2013 and needs encouragement for a better 2014, someone may have lost all in 2013 and that tagline I scoff  at may be the words they need to not give up on God the next year.

I am writing this post organically and my own AHA moment is that "its not always about me." I may be a gangsta and be able to roll with the punches life gives by the grace of God but that tag line may be an anchor for another person that isn't built like me. Or these tag lines actually mean something to God and its a spiritual deposit for the year. I lack understanding yall but the day I know all things is the day I stop growing.

Anyway tagline or not I wish you a Happy and Prosperous New Year!

PS for non Nigerian readers examples of new year tag lines include
2010 Year of greatness
2011 Year of the servant
2012 Year of wealth

Residency interviews ! So it begins!

Can you see the exclamation! I am trying to exude self  confidence and excitement.
My first interview is on Friday and being somewhat of an atypical medical professional I am not really nervous. I am not going for  surgery or derm or any gunner specialty and I just want a solid residency.   Honestly, I just want to get it over with and put a check next to the whole process saying "Never to be done by me again ." Its really not that bad actually , the wining , dining (especially love this!) and visiting new places. On the flip side, its physically and mentally grueling to travel round the country ( even though for me most places are in the north east) and be interviewed by at least two people in the  hospital. I am not complaining though., at least I have interviews. I have to watch my facial expressions during interviews . I tend to come off harder than I am.... sometimes. My friend said I have the "I don't really care" face down to a science.

I am praying for guidance , not to base my decisions in March when I enter my rank list based on human assessment but by God. The thing is I am lot more flexible and open to a new location than I was a year ago.  There is a little bit of fear in me. I constantly hear "You did it before. look at what happened." The neurotic side of me is constantly reminding me of all things that can go wrong aka failing that horrendous  nightmare of an exam step 3 . But I have made up my mind to trust God no matter what. I have found out through this journey,  that faith I like, belief I like but trust I don't like. Trust is harder that faith, its a step further and its much more difficult for me. I don't even like writing about it.

But God has made it in such a way that I have no choice but to trust Him. I am cautiously looking forward to my future because I am genuinely curious to see where God is taking me.
Because everything I thought I knew, I found out that I really had no idea. I probably still have no idea.