I stink at keeping resolutions. I am the best at making them. I can, at any minute, rattle off 100 things that I need to resolve to do better/more/less. But actually doing (or not doing as the case may be) those things? Good lucky with that.
Usually, any resolution I make has been broken before the month is in double digits.
This year, I decided that I wasn't going to make a resolution. I resolved to NOT resolve. Ha! Seriously, though. I just don't see the point.
In all honesty, most days I'm lucky if I have time to floss before Patrick comes home from work.
There are always dishes dirty in my sink.
Too often, I forget to move clothes from the washer to the dryer before bed (what's the world record for times someone has rewashed the same load? I need to look that up. I bet I've beaten it tenfold!).
There are always toys covering the living room floor.
Mail gets stashed in a drawer in the desk and is often forgotten until the day a bill is due (assuming I move it from the counter).
I have at least 10 unfinished sewing projects in a storage tote in my laundry room taking up space.
My closet is filled with clothes that I never wear, while the clothes that are in constant rotation are usually still in baskets.
My meal-plan memo pad has a week's worth of meals planned out. It's dated September 3.
My car is never spotless. Every Sunday, I leave church embarrassed because it needs to be washed. I vow that I will clean it before the next service. I remember my vow as I pull into the parking lot the following Sunday.
There are other areas in my life that need just as much work.
I don't put enough money into my Roth IRA.
We eat entirely too much junk.
I love Diet Cokes.
I spend too much time reading blogs, romance novels, and gossip magazines.
I don't spend enough time reading my Bible and focusing on His word.
I never greet my husband with a smile and a home-cooked meal. It's occasionally one or the other but never both.
I don't send food to the sick, sympathy cards to the grieving, or birthday and anniversary cards for celebrations.
I have expensive running shoes that haven't been worn since the week before Thanksgiving.
JC hears, "Just a minute." at least 3,492 times a day.
I have entirely too much credit card debt.
I buy things I can't afford.
I start projects and never finish them.
All of that to say that I need work. I know this. I know that there are no less than a million potential resolutions in my life. There are a bazillion areas that are just begging for improvement. But, isn't that the point?
He's still working on me. That thought offers me so much peace. Especially when I'm lying in bed at 3 am nursing a baby (one of the only times I get to focus solely on Myra--everyone else is asleep) recounting my many (and I mean MANY) epic failures of the day.
I know that God has so many plans for my life. I know that I fail Him on a daily basis. And yet, He continues to show me grace and mercy. He continues to work on me to make me what I ought to be. He hasn't given up on me. He hasn't given up on you. Isn't that the greatest feeling in the world?
I may not get out of debt this year.
My house probably won't be cleaner.
I will tell JC to wait on a daily basis.
I doubt I'll give up Diet Coke (especially considering it's 4:00 and I'm chomping at the bit because I've now missed Happy Hour at Sonic).
BUT.
Oh, there's that little word.
But, I CAN try to do better.
In one of these areas; in all of these areas.
I can do better to serve Him.
I can make an effort and genuinely try to live my life in a way that it exemplifies the life he has envisioned for me.
I can make efforts to follow Jesus in a way that would make Him proud.
I can spend more time in prayer.
I can spend more time in worship.
I can spend more time the word.
2013 may not be the year that I complete my journey to be all that He wants me to be. It will be the year that I try.
It will be the year that I pray more.
It will be the year that I say, "Lord, this is hard. Please help me stay patient with JC."
It will be the year that I focus on love. I will focus on loving people more. On valuing relationships over possessions. On quality time over quantity of stuff.
My only goal for this year is to do better. That's it. I just want to do better with this one short life I've been given. I want to walk a closer walk with Him.
I want to deserve the blessing of my children's childhood. I want to help them grow and love and serve. I want them to see God's love in and through me. More than anything, I want to live my life in a way that their hearts are for Jesus.
What are your goals or resolutions for the new year?
No comments:
Post a Comment