Baby, Write This Down.

2015 is here and ten days strong!  

New Year's Day seems like a long time ago.  Since then Nathan has returned to school (except when interrupted by the weather), the girls are back in the swing of school, Matt is working five days a week again (sigh), Evelyn is being cute (and rascally), and I finally got caught up on the laundry.  We also spent this week at the hospital visiting my dad who had knee replacement surgery.  Thankfully things went very well and he's now at my sister's recovering and moving around.

 Like most, I like to take this time of year to reflect and make some goals for moving forward.  December was kind of a "loose"month (nothing was written down on the budget and much sugar was consumed), so it feels good to get back into normal routine.

For my sake I thought I would write down some of my 2015 goals.  There's nothing big or major (yet), and it's definitely not an exhaustive list, but hopefully it will help me to be successful!

For visual interest, I thought I would include photos of a New Year's Day tradition.  Besides taking down the Christmas decorations, we also enjoy decorating a gingerbread house.  I just buy a kit at the store.  They're simple, and if you wait until after Christmas they're 50% off.  Ella and Adeline did 90% of the decorating this year, though I did help with a lot of the frosting.  The neighbor boy came over as we were beginning, and Nathan chose to go play at his house instead.

Back to goals...

1.  Each month read one classic book and one non-fiction book.  I think I make this goal every year.  I really enjoy reading, I just need to make it a priority and schedule time to do so.  I've started so far with Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen (my first time), and The Gospel by Ray Ortlund Jr. This second one our church gifted to every family in the congregation, so I would've read it anyway.  I already know what I want to read for the next couple of months...

2.  Complete 14 weeks of real food "mini-pledges".   We've been slowly changing many things about how we eat, and so honestly most of these are (thankfully) no longer a big challenge (week #3 and week #12 will require some effort though).  There are many different levels of eating real food. I need balance or my mind and time become consumed with food.  We try to eat and live simply.  This is an easy baby steps way to begin if you're interested. 

3.  Run a 5K in sub 26:00.  I just got in my first 2 miles today.  I don't plan on running my first 5k until Mother's day weekend, but this was my goal last year and I missed it by a minute and a half.  I forgot about the hill factor.  To some this is slow, to some it may sound fast, for me this will require pushing myself.

I would also like to add run a half-marathon here.  This is something I say every year and have never done.  Perhaps I just need to sign up and do it (and maybe find a running buddy!).

 Finished!

4.  As a family, participate in Life 96.5's Hands & Feet opportunity and/or our church's ministry opportunity each month.  These are typically simple ways to bless others.  I like that our children can be involved.  I think it will be a good chance for them to give, serve, and think of others.

5.  Improve this house, in a wise, meaningful way.  This year I would like to concentrate on the kitchen, garage, and basement as far as big projects go.  (I cannot confirm at this time if Matt is on the same page).  I'm also making it a January mission to get things up on the walls.  I don't believe in just throwing up meaningless things to take up space.  However, we've lived here for over two years and it's time to invest some time and money to make things a little more homey, especially in the living room and bedrooms.  (I don't even want to mention the half torn-down wallpaper in our bedroom.)

Evs did help decorate some as well.  The house was together for an afternoon....that evening they ate all the candy!

6.  Be hospitable.  We'd like to invite more friends and family into our home.  I'm also including schedule dates (and ladies' nights) into this category!

I feel like six is a good number to start with!  These are simple I know...hardly earth-shattering, but perhaps a good beginning.

Happy New Year...or Christus Victor

Happy New Year...

It's 9:00 a.m. here and no one else is awake.  The kids were up late to celebrate New Year's...we did our midnight at 9:00 p.m. with some of our dearest friends, but it was still after 10:00 before all were in bed.

I am thinking about this new year and how it isn't so happy for many I know.  And in that case, Christmas wasn't so merry either.  The world is full of pain, and yet so often we seem to eat, drink, and be merry.  We pull up our boot straps, put on a happy face, and pretend like the sun is shining.

 

 

When my mom passed away, it was a loss of innocence for me.  Before that the world actually seemed like an okay place to live.  Now I understand what it truly means to hurt in a heart being pulled out your chest, can't breathe, want to put your fist through a wall kind of way.

However, having a year and a half to walk this journey, I believe I can say I'm through the darkest part.  I say that with trepidation however, knowing that there are so many dear to me that I can't bear the thought of losing.   Relationships are complicated like that.  Eventually they will all end (either by choice or death), but we can't live without them.  

For a while it seemed like "nobody gets close, nobody gets hurt" may be  the wisest way to live.  But, God couldn't let me stay there.  He's working on me...He's showing me His love, and He is patient and kind.  He's letting me drink a small taste of the "wages of sin", so that my cup can overflow with His love and grace.  He's revealing to me how amazing it is that His son, the man of sorrows, died on the cross for wretched, sinful me.  God is no stranger to grief, and I am never alone.

So, where to go from here?  My motto this past year has been "Jesus is Victor."  It is no small statement.  God has been teaching me bit by bit, and I will never fully understand this side of Heaven, but this truth trumps every circumstance.  So, I move humbly forward in thanks and praise to God.  My faith was shaken, but the strands that remain are genuine and worth far more than the list of answers I previously had.

2015 is an open book.  I don't know what it will hold, I don't know if it will be happy or not.  But, I do know (and trust) Him who holds all things together.  

Thanks be to God. 

(And if you read through all this, thank you for putting up with my scattered, grammatically incorrect thoughts...it is truly embarrassing to me to put personal thoughts out there, and yet here I am.)