Is it me?

I realize that summer is a long way off as is the next school year but ever since mid February it feels like we are just around the corner from the end of this year and the beginning of next. Seriously folks, it is only March. I am feeling pretty good about my handle on my chaos today so I have time to post. The house is pretty clean, (left over from weekend guest and hosting bunco), the laundry is caught up, and the big projects I have are too big to start today before our weekend. Isn't that strange?

I believe I have completed this round of redecorating. You know how a project multiplies? I bought paint to redo the girls bath last spring and put new lights in the entry and hall. That highlighted the need to repaint the hall/stairways. Which in my house starts at the bedrooms and continues down two flights of steps through the front entry to the familyroom and down another set of steps to the basement. When I finished that I had enough paint to do the kitchen and dining room. Which left the living room the odd place out. I got more paint and Mom made new curtains for the living and dining room since they have to match. When I painted the kitchen it led to a new border and curtains. Then sheers for the entry and back door. Whew! The ever expanding project.

Now I look at our bedroom and think, it hasn't been painted since we moved in 8 years ago and maybe it's time. Jessa's room needs some touch up because she puts her feet on the wall by her bed so ......

See a new round of projects. First, I need to clean out the girls closets which will take some time because we are going to purge toys. Oh the weeping and wailing...I want Shan to help but that means doing it when the girls are around. I forgot to take before pictures of the house so after pics won't mean anything. But trust me it looks great, (in my humble opinion)


One of my new rules is to purge excess stuff. I've taken at least five loads to Goodwill of stuff from my house that I don't need anymore. It feels great to streamline and have stuff fit in the closets and cabinets. This is probably the first time that all my clothes fit in our room and aren't located in either the basement closet or one of the girls closets. I am setting a goal to keep it that way. Somewhere I read that whenever something new comes in something old of the same basic size/volume has to go out. I am not ready to commit to that totally but it is a good rule of thumb.

Maybe if I control the chaos I can keep myself organized, my house reasonably picked up and clean and feel more on top of my life.

It's a theory/plan I am hoping to prove this year.

Extraordinary Women

I attended this conference over the weekend and had a fabulous time. My BF Ellen and I left the kids with our husbands and took a road trip to Tulsa. It was an adventure. We were a bit late getting to the auditorium because of of typo on the ticket address, but we made it in time for the last of the praise and worship time and for all of the speaker. We took Ellen's GPS since ours had to be mailed in for service, and she had entered the address from the back of the ticket. She had pre-entered the destinations before our trip so we didn't have to worry. I had printed out maps from Yahoo, but since she had the GPS I didn't even look at them. The ticket had a misprint. Instead of 7777 South Lewis Ave. it directed us to 777 South Lewis Ave. The correct venue was the Mabee Center at Oral Roberts Univ. and we ended up at a liquor store in a very seedy neighborhood. It gave us quite a trip to turn around and get back, but we made it. It was such an invigorating conference.

The theme this year for Extraordinary Women is "Discovering God's Dream" the theme verse from Jeremiah 29:11:

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

I have only recently become aware of this verse. I have claimed it for this year. And as is usually the case, when God wants me to learn something, He puts it in my path repeatedly.

We had such a good weekend and it was refreshing. What an experience to worship God with 3000 other women. It was reminiscent of Calvin (RP International Conference), but shorter and with only women in attendance it was a little different dynamic.

We also got to hear from some incredible musicians over the weekend. The praise and worship team was very talented and very energetic. The highlight for me was the two concerts. Friday night, Richie McDonald performed. He was the lead singer for Lonestar, a country group, until last year when he felt that God was calling him to switch gears to a solo career so he could be a more full time family man. He and his wife have three young children, and he noticed how fast his oldest son was reaching toward manhood. He wanted to be more of a day to day presence.

Saturday, we had the privilege of hearing Mark Schultz. He mentioned that he graduated from K-State and grew up in Kansas. I knew Shan would enjoy his music, so I bought him a CD. I had a chance to meet him, and Ellen asked where in Kansas he was from. Turns out, he is from Colby, and was in school at the Community College there at the same time Shan and his sister attended. His sister even sang with him in the college music group. Now I wish I had known that before I met him. Shan really likes the CD I bought for him so that is good.

2008

I always like a fresh start. Monday's always seem like a fresh start, a new beginning. When the new year doesn't begin on Monday, I usually wait until the next Monday to begin any new routines or plans. Any resoulutions are best kept when started at the start of a week. As I was saying in the previous post, Christmas lasts a while in my house, so I have to get it finished before starting a new year. This year I am going to meditate on two verses.

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

I really like this verse. It is a great comfort to me as I impatiently want to know what that hope and future are and get frustrated not knowing and wanting the answers now, not later. I pray that I can rest in peace knowing that I may not know, I don't need to know, God knows.

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Psalm 19:14

I pray that I will live this. How many times do I say things or think things best left unsaid or un thought. How much happier would I be if I lived this?

Looking Back and Forward

I keep recalling what I learned in college and finding it continues to apply to my life even now, almost 10 years after graduation. Each semester, I would go to my new classes and listen as the professor would outline the coming semester and the requirements for the course. At least one class each semester would have projects and requirements that I would think were beyond me. "No way I can do that," I would think. Of course at the time I would know that I had no choice but to try, so I would dig in and do it as best I could. At the end of the semester, I would look at the completed project and find that I actually could do whatever the professor required. About halfway through college God spoke to me about it. He made me realize that new things are intimidating but nothing I am asked to do, accademically, spiritually, practically, etc, is beyond me if He wants me to do it. It is easy to get discouraged or afraid but God gives us what we need to do what He asks us to do. The wisdom God gave me in college to handle my coursework, has served me well in the life He has given me since. Teaching, parenting, marriage, housework, church work, these are all things that provide challenges to us and sometimes seem overwhelming. It has become important to me to remember that if God has given me a task He will give me what I need to accomplish it. Praise the Lord for his wonderful provision for us.

19And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ. Jesus

Philipian 4:19

Works for Me Wednesday: Hair Things

I have girls. This is not new information I am sure but it is relevant. You see, girls come with hair. And my girls have a lot of it. Je's hair is very very thick. Even thicker than mine and that is saying something. It also has the same texture as her dad's which isn't as great for her but she has a lot of hair. Last year when she cut it for Locks of Love it was a big change, but her hair has grown back mostly. It isn't quite as long but we're close. Long hair is easier to do for me since I had long hair for probably 30 of my 34 years. It's what I know. Which is why I was less than pleased when Jo cut her hair last spring. It is finally growing out and I trimmed it recently to even it up. All this is a long winded into to the hair things. I used to keep our ever growing collection of hair ribbons, barrettes and things, in a basket on the counter in the bathroom. Then it grew to two baskets. And they were overflowing. Now maybe it is just me, but I like the hair things to coordinate with their outfits. I also love Gymboree hair things but they are way expensive. I will write another post sometime on making my own hair things. I still need practice, but they are looking pretty good.





I went to Big Lots and bought one of those drawer things. It is a small Rubbermaid cabinet, with three drawers. I labeled each drawer, Barrettes, Elastic Bands, Scrunchies and Pretties. Then I put each hair thing in the proper drawer. I showed the system to the girls. Now the counter is clear of hair things. The really great thing is that my kids like to put their things in the right drawer. Je especially loves to do it. I will toss things on the counter as I walk by, to be put away later, and when I go back later, she has already done it. So it really works for me.

Go on over to visit Rocks in My Dryer for other tips.








(I didn't know I would want to do this so there are no pictures of the old way. I simulated as best as possible. It still looks better that before.)

I have been hoping for a sunny day to take pictures up at church to show you the finished project, but it has been overcast for the last week, so hard to show you the new look. I may just take them and be done with it!

Love and Forgiveness

Tomorrow, hopefully, I can blog about Je first day of school and how we fared on the homefront. It was a good day. Tonight I want to ponder what I heard in Bible Study this evening. I am studying, Beloved Disciple with my friend at her church. Tonight, Beth concentrated on the experience John had with Christ in Revelation 1: 9-18. She just cracked the door on Rev. 2:1-5, the letter to Ephesus chiding them for forsaking their first love. She made the point that love cannot exist where unforgiveness lives. We cannot truly love unless we let go of our hurt and anger. I prayed the whole way home from Bible Study. It isn't a long drive but still. I prayed over a situation where I fear I might have a struggle in my future in this area. I prayed that God would have me show love to the people involved, to honor Him through my thoughts and words and actions. I am most concerned about my thoughts and words. You know how easy it is to be unkind when unburdening yourself to a dear friend. And it is so easy to let your thoughts get away from you as you mentally condemn a person or dwell on your own hurt and anger. I pray that I will have a loving spirit in this, and that I will be obedient to God's will in my life. If I am obedient, I leave more room for God to demonstrate His love for me. When I heard this today, I was struck by the relevancy. I am a parent. When my kids are obedient, it so easy to show them my love in ways they interpret as love. Hugs, books, privileges, time with fun activities. When they are naughty, I still demonstrate my love for them in my correction of their behavior, (as I am sure God does for us, in letting us face the consequences of our disobedience) but that love is harder for them to grasp. Me too. The don't see a time out or no TV as demonstrations of Mama's love. I hope that my children can witness me demonstrate love for others even when others have hurt me.

WOW!

I have to say how excited I am! I have had comments before from people I know in real life or people who followed the link from a contest I entered. People have commented on my WFMW posts a few times, but today, I received my first comment from someone I don't know, who just read an post I wrote about what is going on in my life. I haven't really worked very hard to build up a big readership. I am torn on this. I started the blog because I had things to say and it seemed a great avenue to express myself. I only told two people I was doing it when I started. A few more people (in real life) know now, but I haven't really pushed them to read it. I didn't do this for blogosphere fame, but maybe a little notice would be nice. That is just ego talking. I need to remember that I do things for His glory not mine. When I get wrapped up in my name, my posts, my blog, my, my, my, I've blown past the important One. If it isn't bringing Him glory, I need to do something else. That is the standard, not how many hits I get or comments people leave. But do you suppose that it is okay to be glad about the comments? There goes that ego again!

I just realized that one of my best friends doesn't know. I think I was too shy to mention it at first, then I think it hasn't crossed my mind. I will send her the link today! Sorry E! You might want to rethink that BFF label, I don't drink coffee and I forgot to tell you about the Blog! Oh Horrors!

Gifts

On Sabbath, Pastor Joe preached on Romans 12 as part of his series from that chapter. As a side note, it is my absolute favorite chapter in the Bible. I memorized it as a teenager, under duress. I didn't hold that against it though and have come to have a great appreciation for the practical chapter.

We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his[b]faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. (Romans 12: 6-8)

One of the things that stuck out to me was that we cannot use our gifts as excuses for inaction. We are called to love the Lord through our actions in the body, and each part of the body has a vital function. We should encourage our brothers and sisters in Christ to use their gifts, and always be wise stewards of the resources of the church. This is just the financial resources, but the physical resouces as well. If there is a skilled accountant in the church who is good at managing money, he or she would be a good canidate for managing the church finances. At least more so than the person (like me) who hates to balance my personal checkbook and isn't great at it.

I got to thinking about my gifts. It's not that I think I am not gifted, its just that I see many people who have the same gifts I do, and in a greater amount. I work in the church in many capacities, Christian Ed Committee, VBS Co-director, Social Committee, Nursery committee, help with juniors, calendar/newsletter, congregational secretary...so I am using my gifts. (It is a small church, which like a small town needs everyone to contribute) I just wouldn't say that the things I do couldn't be done by others and maybe better. I would say my gift is willingness. I am willing to be used in whatever capacity is needed. I have energy and a flexible schedule. It is as crowded as anyone else's schedule, it just has few time constraints than working people, at least now when the girls aren't in school.

Monday's episode of 7th Heaven, "Charity Begins at Home", begins with Reverend Camden preaching a sermon encouraging his congregation to use their gifts in service to at least one person, on a personal level. I thought it dovetailed nicely with my musings this week. It is an old episode, rerun on ABC Family each weeknight at 5. It never ceases to amaze me how God puts several hits on the same message before me at the same time. The point of the episode was to show that we should use our gifts in service to others and not just in a global or broad sense but on a personal individual level. My mom would have loved it. She is queen of the personal ministry. Can you take a meal to a lonely person or spend an hour visiting? Can you give a ride to a person who is without transportation. Make a phone call to a person who is having a rough week? Do a load of laundry for someone with a new baby or a broken washer? Take the kids for an afternoon or evening to let some busy parents have a break? Write a short note to someone who has meant something to you? It doesn't have to be a big time committment, it just needs to be something.

Go out and love the Lord through what you do today.

Testimony Tuesday

Jules at Everyday Mommy linked to this post encouraging all Christian bloggers to share their testimonies on their blogs. It hit me that this was a fabulous opportunity to share what I have been working through over the past year.

For years, I have been reluctant to share my testimony because I didn't feel I had a good one. I have heard all these really dramatic stories of people coming to faith out of some pretty awful circumstances. At church conference a few years ago, I went to a women's lunch and the speaker shared her testimony, the journey from lesbian college proffessor, whose area of study was women's literature, and queer writing, living with her partner in a very settled lifestyle, to Christian, pastor's wife, mother.

In the face of that I got to thinking about my testimony. Instead of intimidating me, as I expected it got me thinking about what my testimony might be. According to Miriam Webster online dictionary, a testimony is "a public profession of religious experience" So, with that in mind, I decided that everyone's testimony is worth listening to, because the are the public profession of what God has done in my life.

I was born in a Christian home, with a rich heritage of faith. I read in our family reunion book about my great great grandfather who settled in Kansas in the mid 19th century. "He was a devoted member of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in early childhood. He was always in his place at church. He was noted for his integrity, honesty, and uprightness...much cash was entrusted to him." This was taken from his obituary. While faithful church membership isn't necessarily a sign of faith, the fruit of his faith is played out in the children, and grandchildren.

I don't remember a time when I didn't know that Jesus died on the cross for my sins and that I must commit myself to Him. I am still working through my ideas here, but I think that Christianity was presented not as something I should chose but as something that is just my life. I use a silly analogy, my parents never said, "If you go to college...", they always said, "When you go to college...". Even as a little girl I knew I would be going to college. I don't think I realized that I had an option, so by the time I did realize it, I didn't need to decide, I was going to college. I don't want anyone to think that my faith is as unthinking as my college attendance. It isn't. At some point, in middle school, it became more that what my parents passed on to me and it is wholy mine. I don't have a lightbulb moment which I can point to and say, "that is when I became a Christian". I remember one traumatic scene with my parents, when I threw myself on my bed, crying and wailing at the unfairness of life. I remember thinking no one loves me, but God niggled me, He loves me. I started to feel convicted about my earlier childish behavior, and wept my remorse, asking for His forgiveness, and "recommitting to Him". For me to recomitte to God, I believed that I had committed to Him previously. That happened before we moved to Topeka, so I had to be around 10 to 12.

I have always felt that my testimony isn't interesting enough to share. It is not a spectacular tale of radically changed heart. I believe now, that every testimony has merit, and that God works in each person. The blessing that I received from a godly heritage is as wonderful as the blessing a reformed crack abuser reaps. By the grace of God, I was spared that hellish existance. Exodus 20:4 says that God punishes to the 3rd and fourth generation of those who hate him, and shows love to a thousand generation who love Him and keep his commandments.

"You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand {generations} of those who love me and keep my commandments."

I have never subscribed to the theory that every bad thing can be traced to a specific sin. However, bad things are a result of sin. Sometimes they are consequences. King David sinned with Bathsheba. In youth group we tallied up that of the 10 commandments, we could make a case for most of them being broken. God forgave David, even calling him, "a man after God's own heart"; yet David still faced consequences for his sin. The baby born of the adulterous affair died, and David's family was very dysfunctional. Sin has consequences that forgiveness may not wipe out.

Because of the heritage of faithfulness in my family, I was spared exposure to lifestyles that lead to painful consequences. God can use any testimony for His glory, even my undramatic one. So a testimony is the story of how God has worked and is working in your life. We should all be able to point to real ways in which God has worked and is working. For me, right now this post is an example; I want to share my faith, in a way that I wouldn't have felt comfortable about a couple years ago. I would have felt that I didn't have anything worth contributing, but as He has shown me, just because the work was less tangible, doesn't make it less real or less important. I didn't see Him working in my great grandfather's life, since he died before I was born. I can feel the effects, though in the options open to me and the choices I didn't have to face.

Points to Ponder

Now maybe I have taken a long time last several years I have reached some important conclusions.

I always thought the people around me must have been born with some special knowledge that I lacked. Some inner ability to put on make up, flirt, socialize, study, know about the world, skating parties, boys, TV and all the secular areas of life. The only areas I felt confident in were those less valued by the world. Now, I am not suggesting that I valued them less, but this discrepancy made me feel like an outsider.

I blamed it on lots of things. My parents were weird. I was a Christian, I was the oldest child, I wasn't allowed to watch some stuff on TV, my mom didn't wear a lot of makeup, my mom didn't work so I didn't get to be a latchkey kid. Those were the things I blamed my lack of coolness factor on.

As I got older I stopped caring if I had a coolness factor. I had friends, family, a life I liked. It didn't really matter anymore.

Because it stopped mattering, I started to realize that I wasn't alone.

Insecurities kept me from feeling like I could be cool. It is easy for people to ignore you if you don't make the first move to be friends. I'm a sweet person, funny, attractive, interesting, and interested. If people get to know me, they usually like me, so my lack of popularity, wasn't because of some unlikable-ness, but because I was too insecure to let them see me and get to like me. This was a problem in places where I perceived I wasn't cool enough to fit in. Church and family gatherings excluded. Now at big church camp gatherings maybe.

This has been a slow awakening over the last decade. In the last several years, I assume I will get along with people and make friends so I usually do.

This is only relevant because, I think most people are walking around with insecurities that the try to hid from the people around them . I think we interpret those as standoffish-ness, rudeness, or other negatives rather than look beyond the behavior to the motivation. Of course I am an eternal optimist. The glass is always half full. Everything has a bright side and the cloud always has a silver lining.

I am sure there are those people out there who are confident through and through and never experience a moments doubt. I am not sure I want to meet them because the intimidate me.

Maybe we should worry less about how we stack up, look for opportunities to bring new people into our groups, and be thankful for our insecurities because they keep us humble and people worth knowing because of them.

My Dad Had this On His Wall

This set of statements is so much the way my Dad thought. I remember it hanging on his office wall at home. The plaque was dated in style so I don't think it made the cut after we moved or at least after my mom redecorated in the few years after we moved in. He had several plaques and awards that were swapped for newer designs and newer awards but I bet it is still in the basement.

I am going to add it to my sidebar quotes because it is something I want to remember about the world.


The Paradoxical Commandments
by Dr. Kent M. Keith

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.

People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway.

© Copyright Kent M. Keith 1968, renewed 2001

I Apologize

I apologize to my husband, my parents, my sisters, friends, roommates, co-workers, neighbors, classmates, the lady at the store in line next to me, random people on a plane,in the elevator, basically anyone who has ever had to spend unstructured time with me. For they must have been forced to endure that which I am currently forced to endure: time with someone in love with the sound of their own voice. I have often thought that my three year old, Jo is like me in many ways. She is friendly, social, and talks to anyone and anything. My head is about to explode, I have no time for quiet reflection if Jo is in the car with me, she had a running commentary from the backseat on whatever catches her eye. If you have ever been on a car ride with me, and I didn't have a book to read, you might understand my pain. I hope I was a little more discriminating in what I chose to share but I am afraid to ask because I am not sure I want the answer. If I talked as a child, even half as much as Jo, I don't know how my voice has lasted this long. It should be a great example for me of what not to do in the future. I saw this commercial recently that encouraged parents to talk to their kids as they went through the everyday ordinary tasks. Seriously folks, I don't think I could get a word in edgewise with that child.

Huh?!

I took this test and I don't understand my score. I got a 10 out of 11 and when I checked my answers I didn't see the one I missed. I checked them three times so I wonder if there is a glitch. I have taken this kind of test before and gotten hung up because I didn't read or listen closely to the question. It is an interesting way to look at how we listen and what assumptions we make about what people say or what we read. I think doing this test aloud would be harder to do and get the right answers because we jump ahead so much easier when listening. Give it a try and let me know how you did.

On the Bright Side

I read several blogs on the net. I realize that blogs are only a slice of a person but I think over time, you can get some insight into the person's overall outlook. For instance, you get a sense of where they fall on the political continuum by the things they say. You also can get a sense of whether they are a half full/half empty kind of person. I stopped regular reading of one blog because the woman who wrote it seemed to whine a lot about the troubles in her life. They seemed a little over blown from my perspective, even in my relatively trouble reduced life. I still check in on her about once a month to read what she's up to, and I am not sure why. I still check in with this other woman's blogs, even though she seems to wallow in the negative side. Today, her post was about being reminded recently to look at the progress not the distance left to go. It got me to thinking. I hope those who know me or read this blog see me as a half full kind of girl. I probably wallowed a little in yesterday's post, but bear in mind, January is the hardest month for me. I could wallow some more in excusing myself, but I won't. I just want to say how much more our lives would be if we focused on what is right with the world, or our part of it than the other.

A preacher I know, not mine, has filled our pulpit a few times, and I dread it each time. He is a very nice man, a sincere Christian, and a godly man. He also is a little shell shocked by 21st century American culture. He spent over 50 years as a foreign missionary and so America seems a far different place than when he left, in the 1950's. He often preaches on the abdication of Christians in culture and the downward spiral society is on. The attack on Christianity. I don't dipute his premise, but I do see lots of room for positive thinking. Good things are happening in our country. I read OneNewsNow formerly AgapePress and know that Christians are under siege, but are not quietly going down, but fighting and winning battles across the country.

All this is to say that we should be half full people, look for the positive side of things, not wallow in our disadvantage. Shannon hasn't been home all week because of wrestling and a deacon meeting, and more wrestling tonight and tomorrow, but instead of complaining about that, I will be thankful that my mom and sister are available to help distract the girls on those long days.

Simple

I have pared all of my goals down to one simple idea.

Live a disciplined life.

I will endeavor to do today rather than put off to tomorrow. I will eat healthily, exercise, pick up regularly, keep a schedule, spend time in study and prayer. In short, discipline my life.

I actually started some of these in December, with a massive purge of closets and storage spaces, drawers and toy boxes. Three pick up bed fulls of stuff has been delivered to Goodwill. Closets have been organized. I am still working through some of the clutter out in the open, and throwing it away or filing it, and I have one closet left, the guest room closet. That one has become the home for things I am saving for later, presents bought on clearance for future occasions, the Halloween goodies I got at 75% off for next year's party, (all non edible treats) and the wrapping paper, boxes, and bags, ribbons and bows, labels etcetera needed to give the gifts. The closet is a huge mess right now and the gift selection is pretty low since we just celebrated Christmas. Wrapping paper is up however because, last year I bought enough on clearance for three Christmases. I have this never ending supply of bows because Shan doesn't like to use bows on presents, since you can't stack them and transport them easily with bows. I find that he discourages their use, and since he does all the transporting, I try not to try his patience. This year, he did a lot of the wrapping too, so they really didn't get used. Some of them should be purged because they are so flattened from years in the container that they can not be used.

So that is it. I will discipline myself to

*pick up my house everyday
*cook healthy meals at least five days a week
*exercise at least four times a week for at least 30 minutes
*clean out that last closet and the storage room.
*don't put off till tomorrow that which I should do today

Those are goals I can work with and I have a pretty good chance of meeting them. Success in the small things will lead me to bigger things.

How about you?

Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2007 everyone! Are you working on goals for your year? I don't like the idea of New Year's Resolutions, mostly because they have become a joke, and we take bets on when we will break them. Instead, we should set goals for ourselves and pray for the wisdom, strength, and perserverence to meet the goals we set for ourselves. We should pray for that wisdom in setting reasonable, appropriate goals for us to actually meet. Instead of saying I will lose 20 lbs, we should set a goal of exercising for 30 minutes a day, or drinking one fewer coke per day. Something that is less discouraging and that we can see sign posts along the way. I really like those new commercials airing here about changing one thing, for healthy living. It can be something simple like parking 50 yards from the store rather than in the spot right next to the door.

I think I will take some time this week and set some goals for myself and my family. IE: picking up our toys each night. The girls are still young enough that they will participate through me, this year. I will spend some time talking with them about it, let them suggest a few ideas and then we can work on it together.

What are your goals for 2007? I'll post mine in a few days. I will also post about our ill-fated trip to western Kansas in a blizzard. Fun Fun! I saw snow.