One day last week I saw hundreds of birds in the field across the street. Within seconds, they moved in unison like a school of fish, flying up and over to a new destination. I watched in amazement.

For days I studied the pictures I took fascinated by the synchronization. Each bird knew when to leave, at what precise moment to leave, and then took off. Being in sync meant they clearly picked up their cue from the next one. It happened so fast, it looked magical.

I thought about how life works following God. When I wait in stillness for His direction, I want to know His cue so clearly that when He says “now,” I take off in synch—not too soon and not too late. Just right on cue!

We each travel our own journey in following God, so we can’t take our cue from the person next to us. But I do believe God stirs up movements – within us, around us, and to propel us to go toward … sometimes to a new destination. We just need to join Him in what He’s doing.

Sometimes moves of God aren’t so abrupt like the hundreds of birds I saw last week. At times moves of God are a building, growing process—step by step. God works in many different ways. Whichever way He chooses, we need to strive to know—truly know—that nudge, guidance, and peace when God says, “Do this now.”

That means we have to be actively listening … watching … waiting.

It makes for a different focus each day, don’t you think?

For Christmas, we bought our Labradoodle dog a special bone … a very large bone. When we put it up next to her, it measured half the length of her. We thought she’d be in doggie heaven with that gargantuan treat. However, after nearly two weeks, she barely touched it.

My daughter suggested the size was too overwhelming, so I cut it in half. Surprisingly, our dog took the half and chewed on the rawhide until she stopped to take a nap. Who would have thought too much of a good thing would be so paralyzing.

It reminds me of the saying, “Don’t bite off more than you can chew.” How easy it is for us to do that in life.

We take on large tasks thinking it will be fantastic, only to find that we’ve overcommitted and are now overwhelmed. Or maybe we set too many expectations for ourselves that we can never live up to.

So how can we make sure we don’t get in over our heads?

*Be honest about your limits and respect them

*Learn to say yes to the most important things and willing to say no to the rest

And  … understand that bigger isn’t always better!

What is it about a new year that prompts everyone to set new goals, commit to do better, or implement something new? There is nothing magical about January 1 as it’s just simply a marker in time to start fresh.

What if we looked at each day as a fresh start? Not just on the first of the year, but every day. How different would life be? It boils down to perspective and approach.

Often we get stuck in looking at each day as another day to live out the routine of the previous day doing the same tasks as the day before. But what if we viewed each day as a new beginning, a chance for discovering something new, and an opportunity to move closer to a goal?

Regardless if our daily tasks are the same, there are still new beginnings and opportunities waiting to be discovered every day. So give it a try. Dare to step out of the routine. Discover. Thrive!