I'm one of those people who is always reflecting on things. I'm a ponderer and an analyzer. And each new year, it's like I need to sit down and put things down on paper (be it literal or cyber).
2011 was another incredible year! Natalie began this year as a little girl, Ruby, a toddler, and Charlie, a baby. And now Natalie is a preschooler, Ruby is no longer a toddler but a little girl, and Charlie is the toddler. Parenting is one of the most rewarding things in my life! These kids have made us so proud! They have learned and developed so much in this single year. They are also behaving better and showing signs of their maturity. I cherish the moments that we have had this year with them. We are sooo incredibly blessed.
Each day there are many choices to make but there are three decisions I made in 2011 that stand out to me. Choice 1: I decided (twice) to do a Beth Moore bible study. It seemed like an easy enough thing to do and an easy decision to make. And it is one that has brought me closer to the Lord. Choice 2: I made the decision to run a 25k (and Jordan made this decision as well). That was something that had seemed completely impossible to me. I truly believed that I was setting myself up for failure. There was no way I'd be able to do this. But I took it one day at a time and pushed myself further each day. It was never easy but always fulfulling. It brought me closer to the Lord, it disciplined me in many areas, it cleared my head, it gave me energy, it gave me alone time, it empowered me, and occasionally it gave me shin splints. But as you can see, the benefits outweighed the cost. And I completed a 25k race. Choice 3: was whether or not to go on the Guatemala mission trip. We did go and it was a life-changer. It brought me closer to the Lord, it was a time of some personal reflection, it was a time void of all fear, it is a highlight of my life. Once we returned home, we realized that there was no cost at all of going on the trip. All of the things we thought it would 'cost' for us to go were far outweighed by the benefits of going. All of these little decisions yeilded eternal results. And each of these things took some courage on my part. This courage resulted in opportunites to grow in my relationship with Christ.
This year gave way to some reality checks in the sense that the reality is the kingdom of God. My uncle Bern died this year and it was a reminder that we are not in control and we have no way of knowing when our time is up. But what we do know is that everyday counts, some things are deposits into the eternal reality.
So far this year, I've been doing some thinking about a resolution. In 2011, though it wasn't intentional, I was courageous in some things and what a thrill it was. So I've thought of some goals for 2012 that I want to accomplish and I'm going to evaluate them to see what is required of me.
Goals for 2012: to learn more about and grow in Christ, to sacrifice more of my time to my family to ensure that we are forming deep relationships with each other and with God, to be more generous with my time and money especially including random acts of kindness, to run 500 miles and to take better care of my body.
My overall resolution is to be intentional with how I use my time. To make my time count. To make time for devotions and prayer, to make time for Jordan and the kids, to make time for others, and to make time for myself as well. I'm going to have to be intentional about all of these things since they don't always happen on their own. Faith, family, and God's family are what I think my core values should be. If I discipline myself in doing what I can to take care of those most important things, then I'm hoping everything else on my self-improvement and to-do list will fall into place.
Happy New Year.
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