Happy New Year

     Even though things weren’t picture perfect this Christmas, it was still a wonderful blessing to be with family. Now, I am trying to get myself into the New Year. I’ve never been much of a go-getter when it comes to starting a year. January and February are hard months for me. It’s cold and there is nothing much going on but work and responsibilities, no fun in other words. I’m all about fun, which isn’t always a good thing. So, I decided I needed an attitude adjustment for the New Year. It’s not going away so I might as well try to make the most of it. 

     Of course, first and foremost there are the proverbial New Year’s Resolutions. Okay, I’ll play, here they are (in no certain order)… 


 1) To lose the rest of my weight and keep it off. 
2) To reach my goal of running a 5K five days a week. I’m at 2.30 miles now. 
3) To put into practice what I have learned about God this year and to continue to grow in my relationship with Him. 
4) To spend more quality time with each of my kids individually. 


     I think that’s enough. Publicizing it in writing on the internet should help me with accountability. If not, nothing will. I also want to work on a better chore system around here for the kiddos. I have yet to find one that I don’t abhor. Why can’t they just get up and do what they are supposed to do like I do? I don’t have a chart with stickers but I manage to wash their clothes and cook them dinner. Sometimes I even get a thank you. Sorry, got off on a little tangent there. I will find a system that works this year….somehow. I need to add that to my prayer list. 
      I have also assigned myself a big job for the spring. I am going to head up a Walk for Water for my church. I’m super excited about it, but as exciting as it is, it will be work. It’s good work though, and I can’t wait to get started. I will write more about it when I know more. What I do know is that it is a 4-mile walk to raise money for water wells in third world countries to give these people clean, disease-free drinking water and save lives. All that we have to do is walk four miles, the same distance that many of them walk daily just for the polluted water they drink now. 
      So, now that my focus has been readjusted, I will move on with 2012. Fun doesn’t have to be only carefree and meaningless celebration. It can also be work, made fun. I will just focus on the RESULTS that the hard work will bring. There is definitely fun in being more fit and active, being close with God, having deeper relationships with my children, the children learning better responsibility, and giving to others. Zeroing in on the after instead of the before makes me want to dive in and get started. What is your heart’s desire for this year? Praying God blesses you.

'Tis Always the Season

Deck the halls with boughs of holly, ‘tis the season to be Jolly!

Have you ever known someone who can’t seem to be jolly?  Not just at this season, but ever.  It’s hard when they try to drag you down too.  I will continue to pray for them, and for how it affects me, I will thank Jesus for this for in even THIS, there is glory.

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Each day there is something to wake up and be thankful for in my life.  The joy comes from a life with Christ.  No carrying it all alone.  No being led by the wind, blowing this way and that.  Something to trust in and believe in, an eternal hope, a love when I may not feel loved, an ear to listen when I’m not feeling heard.  My good spirits, my merriment doesn’t have to come from my ever changing circumstances.  My joy should come from within, from what I believe in, from the life I share with my savior.  He was born and died for me and he did this for everyone, EVERY DAY.  Joy to the world!

Parenting 101 by God

     Today I was having one of those days where someone (I won’t mention any names) was kind of…..how do I say this…..getting on my nerves. Ever had one of those days? Since it was only my children and I here, you can probably guess that it was one of them. I’ll leave it at that. So, in desperate guilty mom mode, I tried to think of this from a spiritual standpoint so that I could see it in a helpful way instead of the destructive path I had started for myself. Which parent do you think I used as my example?

          I thought about God and how much we should get on his nerves.  If he thought like us, he wouldn’t have any nerves left.  He doesn’t though, he thinks like God.  He never gets tired of hearing me talk to him.  He never wishes that I would go away and stop spending time with him.  He would hug me anytime I asked if he were here on earth in the flesh.  He would show me over and over again how to do something and never once lose his patience.  When I’m lost he finds me.  When I’m sad he comforts me. When I am wrong he corrects me.  When I disobey, he gives me grace.  He forgives me time and time again.  He allowed his one and only son to DIE in my place.

     Enough said.

The Maze of Life

     Sometimes the right way seems so out of reach.  When I'm down here I have limited vision.  I can't always see what's around the corner.  Here is a choice before me and I have to make a decision.  I could get flustered and lose my way.

But He sees all, He knows just what I need and where I'm going.  

For God is not a God of confusion but of peace  AND if I commit everything I do to the LORD and trust him he will help me.  These are two promises that I can count on, so why worry?

Daddy's Little Helper

           Do you remember when you were a kid and it was such a privilege to get to help your mom cook?  Or how about the first time you were left in charge of something or someone?  What an honor!  I can remember the first time I was allowed to cook our family meal.  I was so enthusiastic about it and didn’t want ANY help.  I couldn’t wait for everyone to sit down at the table and eat the meal that I (with a capital I) made.  I remember just five or six short years ago my own daughter begging me to let her do the dishes.  Wow, I think I would actually pass out if I heard that now!

     Last night, my son helped Dad put up some Christmas lights.  When he was invited he was beside himself with joy and couldn’t get out of the door fast enough.  But just a few minutes later he came back in with his tail between his legs.  I asked him why and he was upset that “helping” didn’t mean getting up on the roof.  He got over it and went back outside but not with the same amount of vigor as before.  It got me thinking.
      Do I serve my Father with the exuberance that He deserves?  Do I jump for joy at a chance to serve in whatever way He needs me to be there?  I probably have my tail between my legs sometimes when I don’t get to serve the way “I” had in mind.  What in us as children goes away when we get older?  I wonder if it is the newness of life.  Sometimes things are fun simply because it’s our first experience with them.  If that’s the case, then next time I am called to serve and don’t feel excited, I am going to try to look at whatever it is in a new light.  There IS something new about it, even if it’s just my new attitude while I’m doing it.