That time of year...

Well, it's that time of year again. The time when everyone's making New Years Resolutions and trying to get right all the stuff they got wrong last year. I've never partaken of these 'traditions' - at least not conciously. But this year I've noticed I'm doing it without meaning to. I guess it's just the natural flow of the season: after the holiday hubbub has died down, but the work-life hubbub is just getting it's momentum back, we find ourselves in a relatively quiet eddy. I always find myself organizing, picking-up, and reevaluating. I usually depart from the eddy resolved to make some changes. ...well, isn't that a resolution? I think so. So what are my resolutions this year?

1. Love my savior more/hate my sin more: My plan of attack for this is to spend more time (but not all my time) learning about God's holiness. The last time I studied this attribute of God, I had alot of helpful perspective adjustments. I also noticed an increase of gratitude in my heart as I came to understand that God didn't have to save me - he didn't owe me my salvation. But he gave it to me out of love - he gave me what I didn't deserve. Having this perspective resulted in alot of changes to my practical life as well as my thought life.
   
2. Purpose to cultivate a gentle, quiet spirit: "Do not let your adorning be external--the braiding of hair, the wearing of gold, or the putting on of clothing-- but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious. " That's 1 Peter 3:3-4. To be honest, I haven't really done any study on this topic. But if this quality is 'very precious' in God's sight, I want to posess it.
   
3. focus on building relationships: I've been a meany all my life. Yep, it's true. My attitude was always "if you don't pursue me I'm surely not pursuing you." Well, with an attitude like that who in they're right mind is going to pursue a friendship with you? Only a very brave few (you know who you are, and I thank you for putting up with me during that time of life.) But God's been kind to teach me alot about relationships and their value. I want to work harder to be an encouraging, engaged, consistant, honest, humble, sacrificial, and appreciative friend.
   
4. Be more purposeful in sharing the gospel: In every circumstance, I want to be someone who's looking for an opening to share the gospel. If the conversation lends itself, I want to be ready to convey it quickly and simply, but accurately. And even if the conversation doesn't lend itself, I want to be aware that my actions are even then portraying the gospel - so I must make sure they're portraying it accurately.
   
5. Purpose to make sure my husband knows he's the most specialest guy in the world! - because he is! He should know it all the time! I should show him in my words, actions, and priorities.
   
6. Read more: Why? Why not? Readers are learners. I want to learn more about everything, espeically God. What cheaper, faster or easier way is there? Plus, I have one specific project I want to begin work on this year...
   
7. Plan my children's school cirriculum. Stephan and I are still exploring how we want our children to be schooled, but we're seriously leaning toward home schooling them. I don't want to arrive on the doorstep of their educational advent and be unprepared. This is another reason I want to read more. If I'm going to be teaching, I need to know these things myself. I also need to identify my areas of weakness so I'll be prepared to compensate with the help of others.

So, in closing, if anyone reading this has any resources they can offer on any of these topics (i.e. if you know any good books written on God's holiness, or if you were homeschooled or were a homeschooling parent) please tell me about it! You can post a comment or go into my profile and click the 'email me' link. Thanks!

Happy New Year Everyone!