Thinking About the New Year

So I'm not real big on resolutions.  Maybe it's because I'm leary of making a "promise" that I probably won't be able to keep...(Sounds familiar in light of my previous blog entry, huh?!?)

Plus, usually the reason why I end up breaking my resolutions (to lose weight, exercise regularly, spend a designated time every day studying my Bible, the list could go on and on...) is because of some underlying issue such as lack of discipline or apathy or laziness or whatever.

So I decided that this year I wanted to pray about a verse to memorize and that I would like to be my focus or purpose statement for this year.  Hopefully and prayerfully, if I meditate on this verse and really focus on applying it to my heart and my life this year, I'll be able to make more decisions that honor the Lord and that consequentially will very likely be good for me too! 

This year at our Christmas Eve Candlelight Service, our pastor asked us to write down a "gift" that we would offer Jesus, and then we placed them under the Christmas tree at the front of the church.  This had nothing to do with a New Year's Resolution or anything like that, but I did feel that God had been preparing my heart all week long that I need to offer him two specific things from my life: (1) my time and (2) my words. 

I want to spend my time in a way that honors Him so that at the end of the day when I'm spent and exhausted, it'll be because I served Him, my family, and others all day long and not because I spent all of my time shopping on the internet or lurking on Facebook or whatever and then had to rush around like a madwoman in order to get things done that needed to be done around my house or for my family.  I also want to be more disciplined in when I wake and when I go to bed at night.  Needless to say, I have gotten really inconsistent, and it is taking a toll on me and my effectiveness around my house and in my responsibilities.  Making these changes should also enable me to spend more quality time with my Savior in the mornings as well.  Sometimes I feel like I treat Him like a Drive-Thru window.

I especially want to honor Him with my words this year.  I want the words that come out of my mouth or from my fingers to be words that bring life and truth and encouragement and not words that tear down or cause discouragement.  My hubby sometimes "accuses" me of being too diplomatic with my words.  And he's absolutely right.  I usually use my words to tell people exactly what they want to hear, rather than what is true or right or truly beneficial.  I want to speak words of life into my children's hearts to build them up and not tear them down.  And perhaps most importantly, I want to offer words of encouragement and appreciation into my hubby's life.  Sometimes he unfortunately gets the "leftovers" of my day which may or may not include a lot of complaining or just general negativity which isn't fair to him or in the best interest of our marriage. 

So this new year, my "theme verse" or New Year's Resolution, or whatever you want to call it is Psalm 19:14. "May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer." God has really impressed this verse upon my heart the past few weeks, and I know that He's challenging me to not just memorize it, but also apply it. 

I know that it won't be easy and that there will be times when I'll fail, just like I would if I were making a New Year's Resolution to lose weight or blog every day or whatever, but I know that He will meet me with new mercies every morning and that I can do my best to make it my goal to please Him (2 Corinthians 5:9) because He is so worthy. 

Happy New Year, Friends!

So Let's Try This Again

Wow.  So much has changed in our family's life since I last blogged.  I thought that the whole "blogging thing" would come naturally and easily for me because (1) I love to talk, especially about my family, (2) I LOVE  to write, and (3) I WANT to scrapbook (just ask the entire shelf of my craft closet that is full of scrapbooking supplies that haven't been opened or used yet) but can never find the time (go figure).  And of course, you do know that Stay at Home Moms have ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD to do whatever it is that they want to do, right?  :)

Part of why I've been scared to commit to blogging is because I put pressure on myself to do whatever it is that I'm doing at the time really well.  I know that sounds silly since this would be my blog and the only person with expectations for it would be me, but I get a little impressed and intimidated with the bloggers (especially SAHMs) who are able to come up with a post every day.  Don't get me wrong...I'm certain that coming up with something  to write about wouldn't be difficult at all, but actually finding the time to actually write about it would be.  So most of the time I just quit whatever it was that I was trying to do because I didn't meet my own expectations (which is something I'm gonna try to lighten up about in the new year).

But regardless of whatever's kept me from blogging, I've found these things to be true:
(1) I need to find the time to do a few things that I enjoy, and I've always loved writing.  (Please don't get me wrong and read this as a "woe is me" comment.  I love my family and serving them is the highest of callings; however, I change roughly 13 diapers every day, and that's not high on my list of things that I enjoy. So maybe I'll enjoy the diaper changes a little more if I'm also getting to do some other things that I DO enjoy.)
(2) I love my family, and this is the perfect outlet for me to share about our family's happenings with friends and family, both locally and those who live out of the area.
(3) My babies are growing up, and I've yet to figure out a way to keep that from happening.  I want to remember these days, and I've already allowed too many events to go by without making any note of them for memory's sake. 

So even though blogging will require some time, it's an investment I'd like to make because I know I'll appreciate the payoff.  :)  I'm not making any promises about how often I'll blog or how many pictures I'll post or anything like that.  I can't promise that it won't be eight months before I blog again.  I also can't promise that this will only be a blog about my family or about politics or about religion or yadda, yadda, yadda because all of those things are important to me, and I can't commit to making this a politically correct blog. Asking me not to talk about my relationship with Jesus would be like asking me not to tell you about my babies.

So here's the latest picture of the kiddos to tide you over until the next time I post one.

Grace is 3 and a half, Carter is 21 months, and Caleb is 4 months old.  And I will be 29, going on 30, in a week, but on most days I feel like I'm 49, going on 50. :)