First Church of God

(This is us...Caleb, David, me, and Jacob...at David's parents house. We were on our way to an SIU (Southern Illinois University) basketball game on New Years Eve!)

Well, the holidays are over and it is back to life as usual!  I will be back on schedule to post every couple of days now that we are home and back into a routine.  Yesterday was a big dose of reality...getting the boys up and ready for school, and David off to the office.  It was really quiet around the house, and I didn't get a thing done!  I have to admit that I took a day just to be still.  I did get laundry done, which I guess is a job in and of itself, especially after being gone for several days. It reminded me of that song from years ago:

"Back to Life, Back to Reality" by En Vogue

Back to life, back to reality
Back to life, back to reality
Back to life, back to reality
Back to the here and now yeah

Anyway, I guess I am showing my age!  Today is a dreary day here in Michigan.  They are predicting snow with freezing rain, and it almost looks like dusk outside at 9:14 in the morning.  So, I am sitting in my kitchen trying to decide whether I want to stay in again today or if I should actually get dressed and go to the grocery store.  My refrigerator is pretty bare and the only thing in the pantry is all the sweets and candy we received as gifts or in our stockings from "Santa"!  I guess I should probably get back into the swing of things and find my way to the grocery!  I don't know if it is just me, but after I have been traveling and away from home it is hard to get back to cooking, cleaning, laundry, and just the normalcy of everyday life.  And, what about getting back to eating correctly again.  I mean, I have eaten so many things outside the realm of a healthy diet, that I think I might be having sugar withdrawals!  If holidays were everyday we would all be in trouble!  It is really easy to get into bad habits.  Isn't it? 

The bad habits that we pick up in just a few days are hard enough to get rid of, but the ones we have developed over years are even more difficult to rid ourselves of.  The new year is usually the time when we all make resolutions and try our hardest to be better...better eaters, better people, better spiritually, better financially, etc.  We have a desire to be NEW, more disciplined people.  Is it that we are more aware of our shortcomings because the year is ending and a new one beginning?  Why is it that New Year's Eve does this to us?  I don't really know the answer to that question, but I do know that there are things in my life that I would like to change.  There are resolutions I would like to make.  But, I decided this year that I would just pray for a new sense of awareness.  I mean, I am asking the Lord to help me be aware of areas in my life where I need more discipline, more growth, less growth (if you know what I mean...one word...HIPS!), more determination, more wisdom, and just more of Jesus.  I want to start this year off allowing the Lord to refine me, so that I can be the woman He desires me to be.  I didn't want to make my usual list of things I wanted to accomplish in the new year.  I want Him to create a list that I may not even be aware of until this year comes to an end and I can see what He has done in and through me. I want to be a work in progress this year.  I want to walk hand-in-hand with the Lord and allow Him to do whatever He desires in my life, whenever and however He sees fit. 

I don't know what you've decided to do with your resolutions, but let's commit to pray together...for each other, that God would do something New in us this year.  In Lamentations 3:22-23 it says, "Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."  Every morning this New Year, God the Father's compassions for you are NEW! Do not allow yourself to be consumed by life this year.  Claim this scripture every morning, and know that HE is faithful to you.  Let's see what He can do!  Be sure and comment and let all of us know what He is doing in your life as the year goes on! Be confident that He can and will do the miraculous in you if you allow Him to! Happy New You!!!!!