January 1 - I read out of the book of Hosea. I love reading Hosea because I know the story well. I just flipped open my Bible and that's where I landed. If you don't know the story of Hosea. it's like a giant parable for God's love of his people and forgiveness. I was feeling a little insecure about my inconsistency with reading my Bible and spending time with the Lord. It was a good reminder that God will keep taking me back no matter how many times I allow life to get super busy and put my relationship with Him on the back burner.
January 2 - I started reading Mark. I love learning from Jesus' parables. The Lord spoke to me pretty clearly about how we are handling our money. Generosity begets generosity.
January 3 - Still reading Mark. Message of the day: It's not what you swallow that pollutes your life; it;s what you vomit - that's the real pollution. (From Mark 7:15 - The Message)
January 4 - I'm feeling very blessed today. I sat down to read the Bible with my daughter today. We read James because it's always been one of my favorites. We were reading about how you can't expect people to be kind to you if you aren't kind to others and she felt convicted. We prayed together that God would forgive her for being unkind to others and help her to remember to be more kind in the future. She's eight, so we're in the "constant fighting with siblings" stage. I loved being in the Word with her and watching God speak to her.
Sunday, January 4, 2015
Thursday, January 1, 2015
My resolution solution begins...
Every year I avoid resolutions. Not because I don't want to better myself or set goals or change or grow; I love all those things. In fact, I have a shameful amount of self-help books sitting on the bookshelf right next to me. I love to read about how to be a better organizer, a better teacher, a better mom, a better wife, a better Christian. I don't have low self-esteem or anything like that, but I know there are better ways to do things and I love to tap into the wise minds of those who have lots of experience and may have "figured it all out."
No, I avoid resolutions because I can't commit to just one or two. There are lots of things in my life that I would like to improve upon and I don't want to wait a year for any of them. I'd like to tell myself that if I just make a resolution to better take care of myself, my family, and my house that I will just do it. But I know by next December I'll be wishing I could narrow down to just a few resolutions again and will have changed NOTHING. Life is too chaotic to try to perfect everything at once. And despite what my family who may be reading this will tell you, I'm a perfectionist. Or I try to be. If things aren't perfect (or pretty darn close) I get flustered, which means I'm considerably flustered far too often.
Soooo..... I had a revelation, an epiphany, if you will. I CAN focus on one thing at a time for a MONTH. My thought is that if I can do something for thirty days then it will become a habitual part of my daily routine. AND I can worry less about everything else I need to work on if I know I'll have a month to focus on those things in the near future.
Typically I would not share my personal feelings about what I feel are shortcomings in my own life, but my intent is to hold myself accountable. I've come to the understanding that the things I've done and my circumstances have created me into the person I am today, for better or worse. I love me and I love my life. I am proud of my family and my personal accomplishments. I've overcome a lot of potential obstacles, set goals for myself and my family, and met many of them. That being said, our chaotic lives (work, sports, church, new baby, an 8 and 9 year old) have left us with little time to even try to establish the routines and systems that would make our lives easier. This year is going to be a mishmash of personal and family goals, spiritual and physical mindset changes, simple and complex, some that may seem plain stupid to you who may be crazy organized, but hopefully most of these are relate-able to the average person, who is honest with him or herself and who maybe, just maybe, might want to join me on this journey.
Among the things I plan to work on some include keeping up with laundry, keeping my car cleaned out, cutting out soda/fast food, and working out regularly. As tempted as I am to start with something a little more tangible, my priority lies with Jesus. This month I will consistently wake up thirty minutes earlier and spend time reading my Bible. I will try to get on here every couple of days and share what I've been reading or at least share my progress. Wish me luck! And if you would like to, please join me!
~Tamera Anne~
No, I avoid resolutions because I can't commit to just one or two. There are lots of things in my life that I would like to improve upon and I don't want to wait a year for any of them. I'd like to tell myself that if I just make a resolution to better take care of myself, my family, and my house that I will just do it. But I know by next December I'll be wishing I could narrow down to just a few resolutions again and will have changed NOTHING. Life is too chaotic to try to perfect everything at once. And despite what my family who may be reading this will tell you, I'm a perfectionist. Or I try to be. If things aren't perfect (or pretty darn close) I get flustered, which means I'm considerably flustered far too often.
Soooo..... I had a revelation, an epiphany, if you will. I CAN focus on one thing at a time for a MONTH. My thought is that if I can do something for thirty days then it will become a habitual part of my daily routine. AND I can worry less about everything else I need to work on if I know I'll have a month to focus on those things in the near future.
Typically I would not share my personal feelings about what I feel are shortcomings in my own life, but my intent is to hold myself accountable. I've come to the understanding that the things I've done and my circumstances have created me into the person I am today, for better or worse. I love me and I love my life. I am proud of my family and my personal accomplishments. I've overcome a lot of potential obstacles, set goals for myself and my family, and met many of them. That being said, our chaotic lives (work, sports, church, new baby, an 8 and 9 year old) have left us with little time to even try to establish the routines and systems that would make our lives easier. This year is going to be a mishmash of personal and family goals, spiritual and physical mindset changes, simple and complex, some that may seem plain stupid to you who may be crazy organized, but hopefully most of these are relate-able to the average person, who is honest with him or herself and who maybe, just maybe, might want to join me on this journey.
Among the things I plan to work on some include keeping up with laundry, keeping my car cleaned out, cutting out soda/fast food, and working out regularly. As tempted as I am to start with something a little more tangible, my priority lies with Jesus. This month I will consistently wake up thirty minutes earlier and spend time reading my Bible. I will try to get on here every couple of days and share what I've been reading or at least share my progress. Wish me luck! And if you would like to, please join me!
~Tamera Anne~
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