There’s something that seems to slow down the week between Christmas Eve and New Year’s. Yes, of course, the holidays are wrapping up, but everything else feels a little different in these seven days, too. As I float down from the sugar rush (the cookies were simply next-level delicious this year) and as the glimmering lights start to fade, there’s a bit of a natural pause. Work schedules are different, business hours look different, and my daily search tab includes “Starbucks hours of operation.” 

This is both exciting and hard for me. Because after a jam-packed (virtual) semester, nothing sounds better than sitting and relaxing and resting. But of course, as soon as that happens, I’m reminded of a different reality contrary to all of those longings for a blank to-do list. 

I don’t like to sit still. 

There are moments when I feel more like a toddler with the case of terrible-twos than I do a 22-year-old. I don’t like to be still or not be moving on to the next project, the next event, the next deadline, the next thing. I’m squirmy and impatient and ready to get the show on the road. Let’s pack up the tree and get to writing those resolutions—hurry before the ink dries. 

After a month of so much hustle and bustle with a climax on Christmas, the day after can feel a little bit… sad? It’s another 365 days until we pull out the trees, Advent devos, seasonal tunes, and do it all again. If you’re anything like me, it’s easy to get to December 26 and think, Now what? What do I look forward to? And culture would tell us: New Year’s. Duh. And we don’t have to look too far in the future for that—one week away, baby.

So the natural inclination is to ask: What will next year hold, and how can we improve? What are our resolutions, our ambitions, our hopes? What can we plan and prep and look forward to now? 

These aren’t inherently bad questions. Reflection and goals and plans are wise and can help shape us into the people that God created us to be. Facing our shortcomings is brave and courageous, and daring to pray and plan through them isn’t a task for the faint of heart.

I’ve found, though, that I often jump from December 25 to an imagined, improved version of myself in my head and miss what’s right in front of me and what I just claimed to have celebrated quite literally the day before. I can think that I’m focusing on the real meaning behind the season (hello, baby J), but then turn and make everything after December 25 all about me. 

How will I improve and be more likable? How will I get healthier and thinner and more attractive? How will I be more productive and achieve more and have more successes? How will I plan the next 12 months so I’m comfortable and growing and not surprised by life events, feelings, relationships, or situations that change? Basically—how will I play God in my life this year?

That’s not planning. That’s straight-up controlling. A whole lot of straight-up controlling to make sure I’m comfortable with who I think I might be rather than embracing who I actually am today and surrendering all of that to God. 

I want to walk into each new year and each new day asking God what He wants, how He wants to use me, where He wants to take me, and what I can grow in—through Him—so that He can do all of those things through me. If I claim that my life is not about me and that I am His, that includes this week. That includes the time that I spend reflecting and hoping to become a healthier, more whole version of myself. That includes this next year and every single day within it, starting now. 

Before He answers those questions, though, there’s some good news in store (and no, they’re not mandating that people leave their Christmas lights up all year): 

We don’t have to wait for a new year or a new set of resolutions for God to show up. He cares about our maturity and growth and health of course—even more than we do—but we don’t have to become the new & improved “Anna Rose” for Him to love us or for Him to meet us here. Because He’s already here. He’s already bridged the gap—isn’t that what Christmas is all about? 

He’s here. And He’s not waiting for us to be the “2021 Version” of ourselves. He loves us right today, right now. Even if the world feels a little strange or slow this week, He hasn’t gone anywhere. Our time with Him doesn’t have to wait until January 1 or after we accomplish the first goal on our carefully crafted list. He loves us as we are, and He’s calling us to more. He’s here with us and all of our successes and sins alike. And that’s exactly what Christmas is all about—our King coming to be with us. It’s the best news. 

So that changes things. Truly celebrating Christmas changes things, because truly encountering God’s love changes everything. It shakes up this in-between week, these days where the world tells us we have to wait for everything to start fresh in 2021. We can seek Him and spend time with Him now. We can go deeper in our relationship with and understanding of Him now. He hasn’t left us or forgotten us, and He doesn’t operate on the time table of the world. The clock will strike midnight on January 1, but He is with us all of the time, whether we’re clutching a list of hopes for the new year or not. He’s chasing us down—every one of us—and we get to choose how we respond. 

We received His love yesterday as we celebrated Jesus’ birth, and there’s no 7-day activation period for that love to reach us where we’re at. We already have it. So what are we waiting for? He’s offering us an invitation to run after Him with reckless abandon and fall into His arms. To get close and listen to what He’s saying to us, where He’s leading us. To embrace the stillness that this week provides and stand firm in our relationship with our Maker. He’s assured us many times that He’s prepared a spot for us at His table, and there is always, always room (Psalm 23 is the sweetest reminder of this). 

When we seek Him and turn to Him now, He will help us write the best resolutions of all, and they will be so. much. better. than anything we could’ve done on our own. Because His plans are always best, and I believe that more now than ever. I’m wishing you a very merry Christmas, a happy New Year’s, and a fruitful, faithful week between.