Celebrating God's Goodness: A 52-Week Challenge

How was your New Year’s celebration? Did you make big plans or purposefully stay home? 

If you’re anything like me, New Year’s Eve is usually a bit of a letdown (with the exception of my junior year in college when I watched the ball drop in Times Square with one million other close friends). What usually happens in my house is the last minute realization that we didn’t make any plans or reservations and don’t want to go out anyway. Pajama party and snacks anyone? 

The last day of the year (at least according to the Gregorian calendar, as Steve wrote about here) is technically no different than any other day. And yet many of us do take some time to reflect, in one way or another, on the events of the past year. It’s easy to remember the big stuff—things like weddings, or selling your house, or natural disasters. But what do we remember about the week-to-week happenings or the seemingly mundane events in our lives? Probably not much. 

This past week a friend of mine told me about a new tradition her family is starting as a way to remember the little things. On each Sunday of the year, someone in the family writes about a time they experienced God’s goodness in the past week. Maybe it was an unexpected phone call from a friend. Or a really good cup of coffee. Or a sunny day in the middle of winter. No matter how big or small the memory may be, it is written down and placed in a mason jar.  

On New Year’s Eve, the family will open the jam-packed jar to find 52 reminders of God’s goodness and mercy from the past year. How is that for a New Year’s Eve celebration? Sounds like it could be the best one ever to me! 

P.S. This could also be a fun challenge for individuals, youth groups, or small groups!