www.sandraevertson.com
10 years ago
Posted by
Victoria
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It started with a simple question..."Mommy, can I paint my nightstand purple?"
Purple? I wasn't sure how I felt about that. Purple. I need to think about it. I will have to ask your Daddy. I am just not sure I want that table to be purple, but when I asked Jason, he just laughed and said "why not?". I guess he is right, after all it is her table now, she has had it in her room since she was born. A shelf to hide her diary, side holders to stuff stickers and papers in, and a top to hold her favorite things... a treasure box, a lava lamp, a Hello Kitty alarm clock. It is an old table, but she doesn't know that. It hasn't always been white, but she doesn't remember that. I do. Because for me this little old table that I am cleaning off and sanding down represents a memory. I am sentimental. I like old stuff, stuff with a story, stuff with a history, my history, my family's history, someones history. I love connections, pieces of the past, and being an only child and a collector means I have lots of them. I have a trunk full of mementos of my childhood. Blankets that were made by my Grandmother, clothes I wore as a baby, special toys, and handmade art. I have my Grandparents things, my great-Grandparents things, my little girls things. Little things that tell a story... my story... my daughter's story. Emma shares my sentimental gene, maybe that is why she loves the table. She knows that it used to be in her Daddy's room at his house so she gets attached. She is a keeper as well, cards people make for her, special treasures, her first stuffed toy, her rock collection... her mementos, her story. The girls and I each have our special things that represent our connection to the past, to our family, but for my husband...well... he has this table.
He isn't sentimental, he isn't really attached to things. He isn't really attached to this table. If it wasn't for me and my love of all things that remind me of a story or a connection, we probably wouldn't even have this table. My husband's parents divorced when he was a teenager. We had been dating a while, although I was not really close to his family at that point. His Mother left home and took everything with her. Everything. Now, this blog isn't really about my husband..or his family, but I was there that day...just him and I. No one else home, no one else around. The two of us, dating for only a few short months, coming home, standing in that empty house, an echo to our voices....empty.
Fast forward four years. We are getting married, moving out, moving on. I came into our marriage prepared as only a single, somewhat spoiled (although not rotten, my parents say) child could....full of stuff. My parents sent me out in the world with enough stuff to supply a small country. Furniture from my house, furniture from my Grandparents house, sheets and towels and photos. Kitchen supplies, dishes and more furniture. Hand-me-down what-nots, collections, new and old, a moving truck to carry it and a family willing to put it all up for me while I was away on a honeymoon. We came home to a fully furnished home full of memories... my memories. Jason came into our marriage as only a guy who had been living with his Father and brother for four years, in a now very basically furnished home, could... with a suitcase full of clothes and a table. This little wood table that I made him bring, that I picked out of his basement room. I don't know where it came from. A yard sale, his Grandpa's barn, a neighbor. It was old and it was dirty and it was falling apart, but it was a connection, it came from his house and I wanted him to have it with us. I sanded it. I painted it. I peeled the yuck off of it, and when I was done, it looked pretty good. A place to hold his magazines, a place to hold the remote, and a lamp. We had some other small things of his, new copies of birth certificates and paperwork. I had one photo of him as a little boy that I found in an old wrecked car in his Grandpa's backyard and some copies of photos of his Grandparents that his Grandma made for me, but for some reason I associated this little table with his childhood, whether it came from it or not, I made this table represent a memory, a connection, a story...his story...our story. It really only takes one thing to feel sentimental about and then it becomes special, a piece of your history. We all have them, those little things that remind us of home, of family, of ourselves. We all need something, to keep us grounded, humble, to remind us where we came from, and how far we have come.
Fast forward 16 more years. A new generation is now born. My Grandparents have all now passed away and my girls will never get to see them this side of Heaven, but their memory lives on, in their stories, in our mementos of them. The girls have lots of things that let them know they were loved even before they were born. The blanket that keeps Emma warm, sewn by my Grandma. The pillow handmade by my great-aunt who was blind. The rolling pin that has rolled out dough for three generations and still helps me make the best bread ever. My Grandparent's Bibles and my Mother's Bible from when she was a teenager, full of verses and notes, a legacy of following Christ, passed down to the next generation.The bracelet that my Grandfather engraved for my Grandmother to let her know he loved her,and on and on and on.
We now have other things from my Husband's family, some furniture made by his Great-Grandfather that I love, some photos and collectibles from his Grandmother. Things given to my girls. We even have a few little things that over the years, through different family members, have come back to him from his Mother, some baby shoes, a handmade baby oufit, some childhood artwork, etc. We are grateful for each of the things we have and I cherish them and share what I know about them with my girls, just like I do my stuff, but it is still that little old white table that I hold in my heart. A table that has come with us through 4 moves and 16 years, a little, old, cheap table that could have came from anywhere or nowhere. A little table that is now ready to be purple and take on a new life. A table that for my daughter holds stickers and books, crafts and a feather collection. A table that for me will always hold a special place in my heart. A reminder of all that we have been through together and most of all, a reminder of how far God has brought us and how much God has blessed us... a story...a connection...a memory.
Purple? I wasn't sure how I felt about that. Purple. I need to think about it. I will have to ask your Daddy. I am just not sure I want that table to be purple, but when I asked Jason, he just laughed and said "why not?". I guess he is right, after all it is her table now, she has had it in her room since she was born. A shelf to hide her diary, side holders to stuff stickers and papers in, and a top to hold her favorite things... a treasure box, a lava lamp, a Hello Kitty alarm clock. It is an old table, but she doesn't know that. It hasn't always been white, but she doesn't remember that. I do. Because for me this little old table that I am cleaning off and sanding down represents a memory. I am sentimental. I like old stuff, stuff with a story, stuff with a history, my history, my family's history, someones history. I love connections, pieces of the past, and being an only child and a collector means I have lots of them. I have a trunk full of mementos of my childhood. Blankets that were made by my Grandmother, clothes I wore as a baby, special toys, and handmade art. I have my Grandparents things, my great-Grandparents things, my little girls things. Little things that tell a story... my story... my daughter's story. Emma shares my sentimental gene, maybe that is why she loves the table. She knows that it used to be in her Daddy's room at his house so she gets attached. She is a keeper as well, cards people make for her, special treasures, her first stuffed toy, her rock collection... her mementos, her story. The girls and I each have our special things that represent our connection to the past, to our family, but for my husband...well... he has this table.
He isn't sentimental, he isn't really attached to things. He isn't really attached to this table. If it wasn't for me and my love of all things that remind me of a story or a connection, we probably wouldn't even have this table. My husband's parents divorced when he was a teenager. We had been dating a while, although I was not really close to his family at that point. His Mother left home and took everything with her. Everything. Now, this blog isn't really about my husband..or his family, but I was there that day...just him and I. No one else home, no one else around. The two of us, dating for only a few short months, coming home, standing in that empty house, an echo to our voices....empty.
Fast forward four years. We are getting married, moving out, moving on. I came into our marriage prepared as only a single, somewhat spoiled (although not rotten, my parents say) child could....full of stuff. My parents sent me out in the world with enough stuff to supply a small country. Furniture from my house, furniture from my Grandparents house, sheets and towels and photos. Kitchen supplies, dishes and more furniture. Hand-me-down what-nots, collections, new and old, a moving truck to carry it and a family willing to put it all up for me while I was away on a honeymoon. We came home to a fully furnished home full of memories... my memories. Jason came into our marriage as only a guy who had been living with his Father and brother for four years, in a now very basically furnished home, could... with a suitcase full of clothes and a table. This little wood table that I made him bring, that I picked out of his basement room. I don't know where it came from. A yard sale, his Grandpa's barn, a neighbor. It was old and it was dirty and it was falling apart, but it was a connection, it came from his house and I wanted him to have it with us. I sanded it. I painted it. I peeled the yuck off of it, and when I was done, it looked pretty good. A place to hold his magazines, a place to hold the remote, and a lamp. We had some other small things of his, new copies of birth certificates and paperwork. I had one photo of him as a little boy that I found in an old wrecked car in his Grandpa's backyard and some copies of photos of his Grandparents that his Grandma made for me, but for some reason I associated this little table with his childhood, whether it came from it or not, I made this table represent a memory, a connection, a story...his story...our story. It really only takes one thing to feel sentimental about and then it becomes special, a piece of your history. We all have them, those little things that remind us of home, of family, of ourselves. We all need something, to keep us grounded, humble, to remind us where we came from, and how far we have come.
Fast forward 16 more years. A new generation is now born. My Grandparents have all now passed away and my girls will never get to see them this side of Heaven, but their memory lives on, in their stories, in our mementos of them. The girls have lots of things that let them know they were loved even before they were born. The blanket that keeps Emma warm, sewn by my Grandma. The pillow handmade by my great-aunt who was blind. The rolling pin that has rolled out dough for three generations and still helps me make the best bread ever. My Grandparent's Bibles and my Mother's Bible from when she was a teenager, full of verses and notes, a legacy of following Christ, passed down to the next generation.The bracelet that my Grandfather engraved for my Grandmother to let her know he loved her,and on and on and on.
We now have other things from my Husband's family, some furniture made by his Great-Grandfather that I love, some photos and collectibles from his Grandmother. Things given to my girls. We even have a few little things that over the years, through different family members, have come back to him from his Mother, some baby shoes, a handmade baby oufit, some childhood artwork, etc. We are grateful for each of the things we have and I cherish them and share what I know about them with my girls, just like I do my stuff, but it is still that little old white table that I hold in my heart. A table that has come with us through 4 moves and 16 years, a little, old, cheap table that could have came from anywhere or nowhere. A little table that is now ready to be purple and take on a new life. A table that for my daughter holds stickers and books, crafts and a feather collection. A table that for me will always hold a special place in my heart. A reminder of all that we have been through together and most of all, a reminder of how far God has brought us and how much God has blessed us... a story...a connection...a memory.
Posted by
Victoria
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Already the third day of a new year, three days gone in the blink of an eye, in the time it took me to clean up from Christmas, take the candles out of the Advent log, wash my girl's clothes... three days had already gone. Today was the first day that I decided to begin my year of change. Looking at that calendar this morning and seeing that 3 staring back at me made me realize more than ever that there is no better time than today, because before I know it tomorrow will be here and this is how I get sucked in to not accomplishing my goals. A day turns into a week, turns into a month, turns into failure and I just simply give up, so today is the day, no turning back... always forward.
This morning I set the parental controls on my computer, not for my girls, they are rarely on the computer. I set the controls for me, not to block me from any specific sites or to warn me of any content issues, that is not the problem. I set the controls to block out the time I should not be on here, time I should be spending baking, cleaning, playing, reading a book, walking my dog, etc. Habit replaces habit... and my habit is to check e-mail, play games, update my status, look up recipes, read blogs, and basically waste time. I justify it by saying "I need to check this" or "I can take five minutes to look at that" but all those 5 minutes add up to a lot of my day wasted. I tell my children they can't play on the computer sometimes even while I am on it myself. If I take a photo or laugh at something they do, they will tell me to go put it on Facebook. They don't ever get to look at Facebook but they know that is what people do with their photos and funny stories, they know that is what I do with mine. What does this habit say about me as a Mother? What does it say about me as the Godly example that I am supposed to be to my girls? Not what I want it to say, not what God would want it to say. Nail drives out nail.... Parental controls for time have been set, even now as I type this I am on borrowed time, when my time is up, my computer will log me off, done, time to move on to more productive activities. The plan... that by cutting my time off, the new habit will be to no longer rely on the computer to find a recipe, or a phone number, or a decorating idea. I am old enough to remember what my life was like before we had Facebook or Pinterest, or even the internet for that matter. I don't have a cell phone because I want my free time in the car, or shopping, or playing at the park, or eating dinner to be mine, I don't want to be that parent who always has a phone in my hand, so why do I think that I should be that parent at home?
Daily devotions with my family is the next priority on my list of change. During Advent we sit down as a family every single night for the entire month and have a family devotion together. We do it without excuse, we do it whether it is late, or we are tired, we do it after Daddy gets home from work, and before we go to gymnastics. We make it the priority and we never miss a single night...and then Advent ends and January starts and we go back to our regular devotion time, which seems to have become optional. We do it consistently for a while and then we start to make excuses. We say it is too late, or the girls are too tired, or Daddy isn't here on time so we will just skip it this night, we have gymnastics to get to or Brownie meetings to attend tonight... the list goes on and on. What does this inconsistent habit say about me as a Christian? What does it say to my girls or my Husband? Daily devotions should always be the priority, we love doing them at Advent time and we should love doing it all year long. I have purchased the Jesus Calling devotional book for children, it has a devotion for each day of the year, starting January 1 and going through all 365 days. I haven't got to worry about finding another book this whole year. The devotions aren't very long but they are perfect for my young children. They have a memory verse, an explanation, and an extra reading if you want to do more. Habit replaces habit... we always shower, always brush our teeth at night, I have never said it is too late or we were too busy for any of those things, so we are never going to be too busy, too late or too tired to spend time with God. Everyday together, this should be what my children see as the priority, what our habits should be.
We are taking the Joy Dare challenge this year, this is something else I found on Ann Voskamp's blog, a dare to live Eucharisteo, always thankful, always looking for things to give God thanks. This is one way to focus on gifts and joy and not on the negative of life. I printed off her list of things to look for in January. Everyday she gives you three things to look for and give thanks to God for, to focus you in and make you really look for the blessings all around you, even in the simple things, the little things. The girls think this is fun, they think it is like a scavenger hunt, always looking around them for things to add to their list. In the midst of all the negative news, a depressing economy, a lost and evil world, it helps to look for joy, in the small, in the large, in the unexpected. God wants to hear your praises, He relishes in your Thankfulness. He blesses us in so many ways everyday, we just have to stop, look and listen to find them all. The Bible says "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows" James 1, We should be thanking God for as many of them as we can.
My last habit to work on creating this year is Volunteering, giving of myself to help someone else, and further God's kingdom. I do some volunteering, but I make a lot of excuses about how my children are small and I am new to the area and I don't know where to go or who to call, or how I don't have time. I am a stay at home Mom, my girls are in school during the day, I don't have a lot of contact with people outside my home. How can I spread the good news of Christ? How can I show others God's love and be a light, if I don't put myself out there to be a help? This year the plan is to pick up the phone and call the local soup kitchen, or shelter home, or women's shelter, and then just do it, no talking about it, no excuses, just do it. I may not have a lot to give, I may not have a lot of money or resources, but I have time, and I should be giving it to God. " Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." James 2. In my memory work of James, I have learned so many things and one of them is that God wants action, not just lip service, not just me sitting in my house reading and learning His word, or sitting on a pew on Sunday morning praising Him. He wants me doing, moving, working...for Him, for others. My previous church pastor used to tell us that we act most like Christ when we love, but we look most like Christ when we serve. Serving others, my new years habit.
This year is not about goals of losing weight, or exercising more, or vacations or house remodeling, although I would like to do those things as well, but this year for me is about this... what does a Godly example of a wife, a Mother, a Christian look like? This is the question I am asking myself this year, this is how I am determining what I should or should not be doing...When the Lord looks in on me and my life.... What do I want my habits to say about me?
This morning I set the parental controls on my computer, not for my girls, they are rarely on the computer. I set the controls for me, not to block me from any specific sites or to warn me of any content issues, that is not the problem. I set the controls to block out the time I should not be on here, time I should be spending baking, cleaning, playing, reading a book, walking my dog, etc. Habit replaces habit... and my habit is to check e-mail, play games, update my status, look up recipes, read blogs, and basically waste time. I justify it by saying "I need to check this" or "I can take five minutes to look at that" but all those 5 minutes add up to a lot of my day wasted. I tell my children they can't play on the computer sometimes even while I am on it myself. If I take a photo or laugh at something they do, they will tell me to go put it on Facebook. They don't ever get to look at Facebook but they know that is what people do with their photos and funny stories, they know that is what I do with mine. What does this habit say about me as a Mother? What does it say about me as the Godly example that I am supposed to be to my girls? Not what I want it to say, not what God would want it to say. Nail drives out nail.... Parental controls for time have been set, even now as I type this I am on borrowed time, when my time is up, my computer will log me off, done, time to move on to more productive activities. The plan... that by cutting my time off, the new habit will be to no longer rely on the computer to find a recipe, or a phone number, or a decorating idea. I am old enough to remember what my life was like before we had Facebook or Pinterest, or even the internet for that matter. I don't have a cell phone because I want my free time in the car, or shopping, or playing at the park, or eating dinner to be mine, I don't want to be that parent who always has a phone in my hand, so why do I think that I should be that parent at home?
Daily devotions with my family is the next priority on my list of change. During Advent we sit down as a family every single night for the entire month and have a family devotion together. We do it without excuse, we do it whether it is late, or we are tired, we do it after Daddy gets home from work, and before we go to gymnastics. We make it the priority and we never miss a single night...and then Advent ends and January starts and we go back to our regular devotion time, which seems to have become optional. We do it consistently for a while and then we start to make excuses. We say it is too late, or the girls are too tired, or Daddy isn't here on time so we will just skip it this night, we have gymnastics to get to or Brownie meetings to attend tonight... the list goes on and on. What does this inconsistent habit say about me as a Christian? What does it say to my girls or my Husband? Daily devotions should always be the priority, we love doing them at Advent time and we should love doing it all year long. I have purchased the Jesus Calling devotional book for children, it has a devotion for each day of the year, starting January 1 and going through all 365 days. I haven't got to worry about finding another book this whole year. The devotions aren't very long but they are perfect for my young children. They have a memory verse, an explanation, and an extra reading if you want to do more. Habit replaces habit... we always shower, always brush our teeth at night, I have never said it is too late or we were too busy for any of those things, so we are never going to be too busy, too late or too tired to spend time with God. Everyday together, this should be what my children see as the priority, what our habits should be.
We are taking the Joy Dare challenge this year, this is something else I found on Ann Voskamp's blog, a dare to live Eucharisteo, always thankful, always looking for things to give God thanks. This is one way to focus on gifts and joy and not on the negative of life. I printed off her list of things to look for in January. Everyday she gives you three things to look for and give thanks to God for, to focus you in and make you really look for the blessings all around you, even in the simple things, the little things. The girls think this is fun, they think it is like a scavenger hunt, always looking around them for things to add to their list. In the midst of all the negative news, a depressing economy, a lost and evil world, it helps to look for joy, in the small, in the large, in the unexpected. God wants to hear your praises, He relishes in your Thankfulness. He blesses us in so many ways everyday, we just have to stop, look and listen to find them all. The Bible says "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows" James 1, We should be thanking God for as many of them as we can.
My last habit to work on creating this year is Volunteering, giving of myself to help someone else, and further God's kingdom. I do some volunteering, but I make a lot of excuses about how my children are small and I am new to the area and I don't know where to go or who to call, or how I don't have time. I am a stay at home Mom, my girls are in school during the day, I don't have a lot of contact with people outside my home. How can I spread the good news of Christ? How can I show others God's love and be a light, if I don't put myself out there to be a help? This year the plan is to pick up the phone and call the local soup kitchen, or shelter home, or women's shelter, and then just do it, no talking about it, no excuses, just do it. I may not have a lot to give, I may not have a lot of money or resources, but I have time, and I should be giving it to God. " Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." James 2. In my memory work of James, I have learned so many things and one of them is that God wants action, not just lip service, not just me sitting in my house reading and learning His word, or sitting on a pew on Sunday morning praising Him. He wants me doing, moving, working...for Him, for others. My previous church pastor used to tell us that we act most like Christ when we love, but we look most like Christ when we serve. Serving others, my new years habit.
This year is not about goals of losing weight, or exercising more, or vacations or house remodeling, although I would like to do those things as well, but this year for me is about this... what does a Godly example of a wife, a Mother, a Christian look like? This is the question I am asking myself this year, this is how I am determining what I should or should not be doing...When the Lord looks in on me and my life.... What do I want my habits to say about me?
Posted by
Victoria
comments (1)
They say time flies when you are having fun. Well, I don't know about the fun part but the time flies sure seems accurate. I can't not believe that I am entering into a new year already. It seems like only yesterday when I was thinking ahead to all the things I was going to do in 2012. My goals to use time more wisely, be a more godly example, lose weight... all those things I wanted to better myself by doing, all those opportunities wisked by in a blur, and now the year is over and how have I done? I have failed, I may have accomplished a few things that I set out to do, but in the great scheme of things, in the areas that really counted, I have failed....again. I have been reflecting on these failures for the past several weeks. The taking down of Christmas decorations, the throwing away of the trash, the sweeping up of glitter, and tinsel, the fresh clean of the house marks the begining of the new year for me and I decided that resolutions were pointless, they never get fulfilled...just a wish to make me feel better... a hope for what I want to be and a disappointment for everything I am not, but then one day a few weeks ago I read this line on a blog and it said " a goal without a plan is just a dream" and it sparked something in me.
That is the problem, I make goals, but I don't make a plan for how to achieve them. I say I want to better this or be this or do that, but I don't set a plan of action. When we go on vacation, I am the planner. I make maps, I chart the route, I even make daily itineraries and look up eating options. I research for weeks the best places to see, the best places to stay and the best things to do. I make a travel book and include everything. I even plan activities for the girls in the car, etc.... so how come I don't plan my life like that? How come I am content to just wing it and hope that my goals are met?
So began my plans, this year will be different because this year will have a plan. I think even God smiled and shook His head that I finally figured something out, He knows I require a little extra work and help, so I think it was Him that lead me to this new blog I have been following... A Holy Experience blog by Ann Voskamp. How I had not heard of her, I don't know. I am up on my women of Faith, I read Beth Moore, I study Kay Arthur, I should be in the know, but somehow I missed out, maybe it is because God's timing is perfect and He led me to this blog just when I needed it most. I have been spiritually renewed in the past few weeks reading her blog, she has made me think of my life and what I say and do and some things just speak to us sometimes in ways we don't understand and this blog has been that little voice that I needed to hear at just the right time. In the midst of my failures, it has given me hope...for a new year, a new beginning, or as Ann states... moving forward.
I have been thinking about different people in the Bible who chose to follow Christ and how they didn't say things like " I think I am going to work on my witness" or " I am going to try to read more of those scriptures" they just did it! They didn't think about it and get back to it later, or "work on doing better" they just did it, they immediately dropped what they were doing and went, they were committed. Daniel made prayer his habit, everyday, even under fear of death. Paul made witnessing his habit, everyday, even under fear of inprisonment, beating, and death.
So... what are my habits? What do I do daily that I am committed to, that I make time for, that I would be willing to endure hardship to maintain?
Habit replaces habit, nail drives out nail. Another thing I have learned on Mrs. Voskamp's blog. We are creatures of habit, if we do anything for a length of time and make it a priority, then it will become a habit. If we take it away and replace it with something else, then the new thing will become our habit. Whatever we are committed to do, we make time for, whatever is not a priority we will make excuses for, this made me really take a step back, because I constantly use the phrase " I don't have time" or "I didn't have time" but yet there are a ton of useless things I do everyday that take time and I never say things like " I didn't have time to watch (insert favorite show)" or "I didn't have time to surf ( insert favorite website/social media site)" Habits.... it is all about plans, goals, and most of all habits!
Instead of resolutions this year, I am focusing on what habits I am changing, and then I am making the plan of how to change them... because this year for me is all about change! If 2012 taught me anything it is that our time on this Earth is short, our time with our families, our children, our loved ones, could end any minute, we could be meeting our Creator or we could be be meeting eternal torment in the blink of an eye ( and if that doesn't make us think twice about our choices and our habits, nothing will) ...what do we want to do with the time that we have? What do I want my habits here on Earth to say about me? These are the things I am thinking of as I start this new year... my year of renewal.. my year of change!
(to be continued......)
That is the problem, I make goals, but I don't make a plan for how to achieve them. I say I want to better this or be this or do that, but I don't set a plan of action. When we go on vacation, I am the planner. I make maps, I chart the route, I even make daily itineraries and look up eating options. I research for weeks the best places to see, the best places to stay and the best things to do. I make a travel book and include everything. I even plan activities for the girls in the car, etc.... so how come I don't plan my life like that? How come I am content to just wing it and hope that my goals are met?
So began my plans, this year will be different because this year will have a plan. I think even God smiled and shook His head that I finally figured something out, He knows I require a little extra work and help, so I think it was Him that lead me to this new blog I have been following... A Holy Experience blog by Ann Voskamp. How I had not heard of her, I don't know. I am up on my women of Faith, I read Beth Moore, I study Kay Arthur, I should be in the know, but somehow I missed out, maybe it is because God's timing is perfect and He led me to this blog just when I needed it most. I have been spiritually renewed in the past few weeks reading her blog, she has made me think of my life and what I say and do and some things just speak to us sometimes in ways we don't understand and this blog has been that little voice that I needed to hear at just the right time. In the midst of my failures, it has given me hope...for a new year, a new beginning, or as Ann states... moving forward.
I have been thinking about different people in the Bible who chose to follow Christ and how they didn't say things like " I think I am going to work on my witness" or " I am going to try to read more of those scriptures" they just did it! They didn't think about it and get back to it later, or "work on doing better" they just did it, they immediately dropped what they were doing and went, they were committed. Daniel made prayer his habit, everyday, even under fear of death. Paul made witnessing his habit, everyday, even under fear of inprisonment, beating, and death.
So... what are my habits? What do I do daily that I am committed to, that I make time for, that I would be willing to endure hardship to maintain?
Habit replaces habit, nail drives out nail. Another thing I have learned on Mrs. Voskamp's blog. We are creatures of habit, if we do anything for a length of time and make it a priority, then it will become a habit. If we take it away and replace it with something else, then the new thing will become our habit. Whatever we are committed to do, we make time for, whatever is not a priority we will make excuses for, this made me really take a step back, because I constantly use the phrase " I don't have time" or "I didn't have time" but yet there are a ton of useless things I do everyday that take time and I never say things like " I didn't have time to watch (insert favorite show)" or "I didn't have time to surf ( insert favorite website/social media site)" Habits.... it is all about plans, goals, and most of all habits!
Instead of resolutions this year, I am focusing on what habits I am changing, and then I am making the plan of how to change them... because this year for me is all about change! If 2012 taught me anything it is that our time on this Earth is short, our time with our families, our children, our loved ones, could end any minute, we could be meeting our Creator or we could be be meeting eternal torment in the blink of an eye ( and if that doesn't make us think twice about our choices and our habits, nothing will) ...what do we want to do with the time that we have? What do I want my habits here on Earth to say about me? These are the things I am thinking of as I start this new year... my year of renewal.. my year of change!
(to be continued......)
