If you did not own a calendar you would still have a good idea what time of year it is simply by perusing periodicals. “Think Thin for 2003” headlined one women’s magazine that caught my eye as I stood in line at the grocery store this week, amusing myself while the checker totaled the customer’s order ahead of me. Promises to save time, space, and money for those who will take the time to reorganize their lives are other teases used to encourage the purchase of other magazines. Funny, isn’t it, that these same themes are revisited each January.

I call it the It’s a New Beginning Fever and the bug has hit my house as well. My kids are cleaning their rooms to make room for Christmas presents and begin the new year in some semblance of order. An impressive looking exercise chart now hangs on the refrigerator, compliments of my husband. I’ve cleaned out my closet and have readied a couple of bags filled with clothes for donation.

A fresh, less cluttered start to the new year sounds good, but there is a down side to New Year’s resolutions: as noble and motivational as they may be, they can also be burdensome, guilt-producing, and stressful. Do you really have the time and energy to add more things to your day? A small voice inquires inside my mind. Are you setting yourself up for failure with a long list of ideas even though you’re feeling energetic and optimistic? I ask myself at a quiet, personal moment.

I am a firm believer in new beginnings. Fresh starts. Turning the corner. Truly accepting God’s offer of full and complete pardon for all the times we promised but never seemed able to deliver.

It is a step in faithful living — living with God and experiencing Christ on a personal, daily level — that excites, refreshes and motivates me. I love the idea of not having to go it alone. I love experiencing a God who takes personal interest in each and every one of us, who desires our interaction and wants to provide us with the means to make our resolutions a successful venture.

But this year I feel a bit differently about my newly developed goals for the new year. Rather than making numerous additions to my list of To Dos and knowing deep down that I will probably have to abandon many of my plans just weeks into the venture, I think I will aim this year for quality control.

Bremerton resident and author Barbara Roberts Pine, who has written a book titled “ife with a Capital ‘L,’ ” encourages her readers to live not perfectly or faultlessly, but well. And the first step to living well, she says, is setting aside time to linger. Stop for a moment from the list making to linger over yourself, your setting, and the people you touch.

I am endeared to the concept of lingering. And I am reminded of a day in my life that was perfect because we lingered. It occurred 11 years ago when most of Western Washington was blanketed with a beautiful and tantalizing layer of snow.

The phone began ringing early with children asking the Klope kids if they wanted to go sledding. Dads caught the vision and not only dug out old sleds but designed the ultimate of downhill runs. Mothers gathered food and clothing and headed out the door as enthusiastically as the rest.

We ate, slid down the hill, hauled children back up the hill and slid down some more. We napped, kept the dryer running all day to warm snowy clothes, played games, talked of the new year, and laughed until we cried over old stories that get better as time passes. There were no meetings to attend, no fussiness to contend with and not one worry to spoil the blissfulness of the snow outside or the warmth inside. We lingered, shared left-over Christmas goodies, and experienced a perfect day.

Here is to a happy, healthy new year: May we set a few manageable new goals, linger, and grow in the understanding that God offers each one of us new beginnings whenever we ask.

Freelance writer Joan Bay Klope’s e-mail address is

bklope@hotmail.com