New Years Resolutions

As Todd and I sat together on New Years Day the inevitable conversation came up - "so what is your New Year's Resolution this year?" If you know my husband, you will know that he is not a fan of these conversations. God knew what He was doing when He brought the two of us together - we compliment each other well - we have a lot of similarities in terms of our interests, we think a lot a like, we truly enjoy being together, we are eachothers' best friends, but where he is much more laid back about a lot of things, I am the opposite. So I like my lists, I like my goals all written down, and I like my little check-marks when I have accomplished something. I like my life organized and I like schedules. Yes, my children were Babywise babies, yes I carry around an oldfashioned planner rather than a fancy phone b/c my system might get messed up by a new phone, and yes I have all sorts of excel documents which I'm sure help keep us working towards our goals and create organization in our home (or so I think!). :)

So when I bring up the question, its not a surprise to him. :) We talked about the typical things - our goals to work out more (there was a time in my life when I couldn't imagine a day without running...oh my how life has changed!), try to drink less caffeinated beverages, etc. :) But the biggest New Years Resolution - to make God our ALL, our EVERYTHING, our #1; to have the day start and end with HIM, to really dig into the WORD daily, and spend a significant time in prayer. It is our prayer that we will have such a passionate love for Him and for His Word that nothing else in this world will matter but loving and serving Him, making disciples of all nations, and bringing GLORY to His Name!

With that comes my 2nd resolution, and this is also for our adoption. We've talked about some ways to fundraise - I'll keep you posted on this as we still haven't nailed down how we'd like to do this (if you have any fantastic ideas, let me know!). But the biggest change for us will be our spending. Now at first I didn't consider this a huge issue when thinking of how to save money for the adoption - we don't have any fancy new electronics, our vehicles are mediocre, we don't go on fancy vacations or have nice furniture, and the only toys our kids get are what they receive for birthdays or Christmas, which we try to also keep to a minimum. But ya know what, we have WAY more than most of the world has and I know we have plenty of excess in our house and I am very guilty of buying things that I don't truly, truly need. So I am committed to not buying anything extra for this next year. No new clothes, shoes, kitchen gadgets, decor for the house, stuff for the kids, etc. My closets and drawers are full, I don't need a thing, and I truly want to go an entire year without buying anything for myself or my family that we don't TRULY need. I will honestly say that it will be a challenge - I know it! I am tempted by worldly things, and it amazes me how I can be completely content, and then go to the store and suddenly you are no longer content because of the next best thing you suddenly need. So there you have it - I'm praying for a content heart that is satisfied completely with God and God alone, that all my joy will be found in Him and that nothing else in this world will matter.

Praying that you also will find complete fulfillment, joy and love in the Lord and your relationship with Him. Blessings to you in your new year and what God has planned for you!

Tanya