It's a new day, a new year, a new blog...

Well, January 1st has come and nearly gone and I've hardly started preparations for the New Year.  A dying Christmas tree still stands adorned with ornaments, decorations and lights strewn about the house and presents are laying around yet to find their homes.  And yet it is a new year; 2012 has come, and with it new hope, dreams and aspirations and, of course, those pesky resolutions.

I do enjoy writing down my resolutions each year... better to call them goals.  Each year, I try to find where I wrote those goals and see how I did.  Some years I am surprised to have grown in all the areas I had wanted to and other times, that same goal is till waiting to be tackled and has sat there on the shelf for one more year.

So my resolutions for this Year? 

- one from last year was to lose 15 pounds - I lost 12 and then gained it back, so I guess I'm back to that same goal again!  

- I'd like to have a specific day or night for family time and be organized with something fun for us to do!  It can be so easy to do things sporadically and then other things crowd in on that time.

- I'd like to read through the old testament (haven't done the whole thing in awhile).  I read through the New Testament fully this year and so it seems natural to go back to the very beginning.

- Read and pray more with Michael.  So important to spend time together not in front of the TV!  So it may mean cutting the cable for awhile!? so we can figure out a routine of building our relationship up and keeping things strong.

....and there's a few more.... but let's see what last year looked like.

As I look back on this year, I can see the areas where I have grown and excelled and the areas of weakness as well.  The best part of this year and biggest growing area - Prayer!

This is the first season in my life where I have been able to stay consistent in prayer - spending time specifcally set apart for the Lord, praying more for others, praying the bible, memorizing scripture and filling my spirit up.

I preached my very first sermon to the church this year and the topic was on Praying the Bible.  And the major things that helped me continue to grow and stretch myself in this area was the accountability I received.  We are not called to live this life without it.  We need relationship and I am so thankful for the numerous relationships I have that encourage and challenge me to keep going for Jesus.

My friend Meg and I continue to call in the morning to remind one another to spend time with the Lord and lovingly and sometimes strongly kick each other's butts when we are putting other things first.

I have a wonderful group of ladies that I meet with as well that all want more of Jesus and having a place where we can support and love each other has helped me immensely.

My husband and I sharpen one another and challenge each other as well and we continue to grow together and apart in our walk with the Lord.

My church family is a place where we all get filled up and encouraged and I am continually thankful for the times that I get share with others God's heart as well as hear his heart for me as people from our congregation are obedient in sharing with me.

So if any of you want to have a new year's resolutions this year, one that you could really stick to and work on - I really pray that you consider this one: Plant yourself in community.  May that be your goal for the year.  You will be surprised by the benefits.

My first preach is ready to listen to!

I know some of you have been asking when the preach I did would be ready to listen to and it's finally been found and is on the website.  Just go here and then scroll down to June 5th to download it.  I think I might just go for a listen myself.  Let me know your thoughts and feedback.  I know it was my first time so there is a huge learning curve to go on, but I was really happy with all that I have already learned in the process.

Mike and I preaching together

Hey all, for some reason we can't find the preach that I did at the Vineyard but they have put up the Mother's Day story that Mike and I shared together.  Go here to download and hear a little bit of our prayer journey with the twins and Mike's cancer.  God is good all the time!

I'll let you know if we find mine soon!

Strength in Numbers

Isn't it wonderful when you have a dear friend?  Someone who is willing to roll up their sleeves, (quite literally in fact), and help out in the everyday of your life.  Those types of friends are hard to come by.  Those friends that care enough about you that they will challenge you when you start slacking off, encourage you when you are doing well, and rejoice with you when they see God moving in you.

I have a friend just like that.  My friend Meg and I have been committed to calling one another Monday through Friday for at least a month or two now every morning.  Sometimes it's a quick call, sometimes longer, sometimes we pray for one another, other times we share what God has been speaking to us.  Each morning this call is an accountability call.  We both desire to have the discipline of prayer established in our lives.  We've realized quite frankly, that through the years that we've tried to establish this alone, it has not stuck.  I have gone weeks, maybe sometimes months where my daily devotion time is steadfast....and then I will completely forget, turn my heart in another direction and have to start again.

Now I'm not saying this won't happen again.  And I'm not saying that Meg and I will still be calling each other every morning when we're grannies but what I am saying is that as we establish this discipline in our lives, we have found strength in numbers.  There is something about not going it alone, feeling encouraged, supported and challenged as we engage our spirits in this most precious journey.

Today Meg came over to help me do some spring cleaning.  We cleaned, purged and organized nearly every cupboard in my kitchen.  Again, I found strength in numbers.  This is a job that I would love to forget about.  But as spices come flying at me when I start to make dinner....it's hard to forget the mess!  And so, with her help, I was able to tackle one of life's many mundane chores and feel accomplished in what we did together.  It was wonderful to have my husband come home and 'ooh' and 'awe' and 'wow' over every cupboard he opened.

So, it is not at all a sign of weakness to ask for help.  It is a sign of great courage.  It is with others that we are called to live this life, and it is with others, we receive strength to keep moving.