I pray everyone had a wonderful Christmas and rung in the new year safely. R & B your dinners both sound yummy although I'd probably prefer B's... He he...
C, I'm glad your tooth is more bearable and glad to hear your sales were good. When Derek was out of work there were many months his eBay sales kept us afloat as God blessed us with good sales and merchandise to sell.
And now we're into the new year. Like you R, I also love the new year. To me its a time to reflect on what God has done in my life the past 12 months and to contemplate what his direction appears to be for the months to come. I like to take a couple of days vacation so I can focus without the distractions of Christmas activity and the pressures of work.
This year instead of resolutions I have set priorities with a plan on how to reach them.
Goal #1 is sort of an overview goal that breaks down to three specific goals, that is to finish some of the things I started last year. In reflection last year was a year of starts but not a lot of follow through. The two major exceptions was keeping active with this group and I had a very successful year at work. God has blessed me mightily in that area.
Specific goals:
My health- God gave me the tools for this last year and I made few good starts but allowed myself to get distracted from the plan. I've made progress with the gluten free but my weight is as high as ever. There are two major events this year and I am determined to be as healthy as possible for them. I'm following a book called Never Say Diet by Chantelle Hobbs. She has a Christian approach to getting healthy and I know this is the plan God has given me. I'd really love to have an accountability partner if any of you ladies are interested. That's one of my prayer requests for the new year.
Ministry - late last year I felt God guiding me towards volunteering for the prayer lines at our local Christian television station. I started the training in December and hope to finish it off this week. They require a commitment of a minimum of 4 hours per week. This is way outside my comfort zone but I am really excited about it. I've felt a huge desire towards missions but logistically it's not feasible nor does it fit with where God has me right now, but this seems like God's answer to that desire.
Finances - I made lots of not so good decisions last year and set us back financially. This year I need to get brutal with setting my budget and sticking to it. We have been blessed with a wonderful home and great jobs that pay well but I have been indulgent instead of diligent and have accumulated debt that needs to be paid down. Please pay for strength and discipline in this area. I plan tho talk to Derek about
