This is an odd week. No business meetings. No school. No medical appointments. No expectancy. Christmas is past, the new year not yet arrived. A week of suspended activity.

But it’s just another week, isn’t it? Another seven days like any other seven days?

Yet it’s not.

Political stories are muted in the news. The front page of the newspaper had a picture of a home-crafted nativity scene. Talking heads on television have spent more time on human interest stories this week than the past eight weeks combined.

It’s as if everyone has taken a deep breath and a large step back from the brink of despair. Sure, there’s still talk of the supposedly disastrous tax bill recently passed by the Republicans. But there’s not much fuel for the fire when television network CBS determined that each of three diverse families tested all saved money under the new bill.

Still, nobody seems to be paying attention to the news much this week, anyway. We’ve shifted our perspective…temporarily. Celebrating with family. Visiting friends. Exploring our Christmas gifts. Enjoying a leisurely dinner out. Living life the way it was meant to be lived.

This is the week between years. The week between 2017 and 2018. Between now and then. Between rest and rush. Between play and work.

This is the week we consider resolutions for the new year. Or we choose our “one word” for 2018. This is the week we spend quiet time with the Lord. A time of introspection. Self-examination. A time of asking the Holy Spirit to show us our blind spots. A time of asking Him to show us those areas we have yet to surrender to Him.

Sadly, it won’t last. But we can purpose to take a little of this week with us. We can choose to be intentional about building margin into our packed schedules. To value rest as a way to reenergize. To value play as a way to alleviate stress. To value relationships over possessions. Most importantly, to seek and value a more intimate relationship with the Lord. A time of giving Him the priority in our daily life that we withhold when our schedules control us instead of the other way around.

Yes, it’s only a week. But it doesn’t have to end, not fully, anyway. Take a piece of this week with you into 2018. You won’t regret it.