time to begin again

Every year people make promises to themselves to be better in the New Year. I am no exception. Ha

Last year I made a list of all the things that I would like to accomplish in the New Year.  Spend more time outside…eat more veggies…find a new hobby...go to bed earlier…learn how to cook better.

Some of them I’ve stuck with and others, well let’s just say that they barely lasted to February.

I thought that my new hobby was going to be gardening. Yeah right. Gardening is something that I simply have never enjoyed. Maybe I need to give it more time but it’s really isn’t something that interests me a whole lot. That’s more my mom and Lydia’s department.

I tried growing herbs in little pots a couple times and I over watered them and they stopped growing. So I stopped trying.

I am determined to have a flower garden this year though. It would be so fun to be able to arrange my own flowers! Hydrangeas are my favorite. I wonder how hard those are too keep alive?

I may not have taken up gardening as a hobby but I did take up running. And I feel a lot better about that than if I had bushels of flowers.

Anyway, back to the topic of resolutions. I have a few. Not quite as many as last year (I had twenty something) but enough to keep me busy.

In 2011 I want to…

Hold my tongue

Speak kindly even when I don’t feel like it

Eat a healthier diet…more protein

Not be forgetful

Learn to be more selfless

Not worry what people might think of me.

Stand strong against temptations even when it’s really, really hard

Find a way to make money (would anyone care for ballet lessons?)

And in the words of Eleanor Roosevelt “Do something every day that scares you”

Show the love of Jesus in my words and actions. Pray that God will use me to bring someone to Him.

Find new friends and opportunities in my new town.

Be a better sister and daughter. Be more caring.

Be willing to stand up when it’s tough.

Be better in chemistry and algebra. Ha

Be a better dancer.

Make a point to smile.

And finally, as always, DO HARD THINGS! 

Look to the New Year with hope. And like my mom say’s, with excitement at what it holds.

Be willing to share. Be willing to work. Be willing to change. Be willing to love. Be willing to care. Be willing to smile.

God bless you all!

It’s now 2011 A.D. wow.

Here's a song I really love from Sanctus Reel,

So get out there and head into the first week of the New Year with a smile on your face knowing that Jesus will carry you through it…and the other 51 weeks to come!

It’s time for healing, time to move on,
it’s time to fix what’s been broken too long
Time to make right what has been wrong;
it’s time to find my way to where I belong

Chorus:
There’s a wave that’s crashing over me, and all I can do is surrender
Whatever You’re doing inside of me
It feels like chaos, but somehow there’s peace
And it’s hard to surrender to what I can’t see, but I’m giving in to something heavenly

Time for a milestone, time to begin again, re-evaluate who I really am
Am I doing everything to follow Your will or just climbing aimlessly over these hills?
So show me what it is You want from me
I give everything – I surrender

Chorus:

Time to face up, clean this old house
Time to breathe in and let everything out that I’ve wanted to say for so many years
Time to release all my held back tears

Whatever You’re doing inside of me
It feels like chaos, but I believe …
You’re up to something bigger than me
Larger than life, something heavenly

Whatever You’re doing inside of me
It feels like chaos, but now I can see
This is something bigger than me
Larger than life
Something heavenly, something heavenly

Time to face up, clean this old house
Time to breathe in and let everything out