Hi everyone. I just wanted to wish you all a Happy, Abundant, and Blessed New Year! I’ve been tapping into the concept that God has wonderful things in store for us and all we need to do is be as Godly and as generous as we can, and receive them.
I’ve decided NOT to set resolutions. They feel like ways of compensating for our failures, and thus set us up for MORE failure. Instead, I’m looking back on spiritual lessons and seeing what I liked and what seemed to get me closer to my goals, and set a goal.
This year I participated “Year of the Bible”, and so read the Bible cover to cover – 1 passage a day, every day, all year. This did two things:
1. it gave me the habit of reading the Bible daily, SO NEEDED!
2. it gave me historical context for the “how much I knew”.
The Bible was split up into the following for each day: an Old Testament scripture, a New Testament selection, a Psalm or Psalm portion, and a Proverb. Which means that I ended today by reading about a Proverbs 31 woman. (I read the last 2 days in a different order, so as not to break up sections.) Because I believe there are NO coincedences, and because I’ve struggled with grace and nobility in my character, particularly as a wife and mother, I decided, 2 days ago, that I’d read this complete portion lastly, and start the new year focusing on becoming more like a Proverbs 31 woman.
After googling the passage, I quickly found 3 websites I like, and found a few books I’ve added to my wishlist. First I added “Supermom Has Left the Building”, which is about how Prov.31 in today’s times makes us seem like we must struggle to be supermoms (ha! as if society didn’t do that enough). I read the first section online, and it was amusing and just what I need. It explodes the myth that God wants this from us.
Then I added “Beautiful in God’s Eyes”, by Elizabeth George, which starts by saying that you can scale a difficult mountain. Mrs. George is like the Martha Stewart of the Christian world. I read “A Woman After God’s Own Heart” for a Bible study, and it was HARD. OK, some things she recommended even had my very conservative group of church sisters chuckling at the impossibility. BUT I did learn some things. And even though Chris doesn’t think I’ve changed, and I still complain far too much, I’m not even a little bit the same.
I thought the balance was a good idea. I want to be more like this Proverbs 31 woman, but I also want to be, well, REASONABLE about what I can achieve.
Other goals? As mentioned earlier, God helped me get well on my way to conquering Habit 1 of “7 Habits of Highly Effective People”. I would like to shoot for Habit 2 in 07, MAYBE get towards Habit 3.
I’d like to conquer negativity, and Joyce Meyer is a great (and sometimes scary) help with that. Her advice is sound and really works.
Finally, I’m opening the doors of 2007 to true abundance. I’m thinking of buying Joel Osteen’s “Your Best Life Now”. We’re moving soon, and I envision our new home and new location as filled with exciting opportunities – personally, spiritually and professionally. I’m also redesigning my business, adding products this year, and going back to school for professional writing. I just KNOW I’ll find a great part time sitter, church, pediatricians, nursery school for Zoe, neighbors, and friends.
Wish me luck!