New Year's Resolutions or LIFESTYLE Changes?!?!?!?

Resolutions OR Lifestyle Changes?

It’s the dreadful tradition that everyone does on December 31^st… New Year’s Resolutions.  I guess I say “dreadful” because I have a huge fear of failing.  If I set a resolution for myself and especially if I announce it to the “world”, I make certain to FOLLOW IT!  Ok… or at least I do everything in my power to try to follow it.  It’s funny, as I went driving around town on January 1^st, I witnessed a ton more people on the streets walking/running.  Some, who you could tell were pros at it and probably did it on Christmas day even, but others who were struggling.  Struggling to run off that extra weight that maybe they had been working at for years to gain or maybe just gained the “Christmas 10”.  If I am honest, at first I chuckled thinking, “I know what your New Year’s Resolution is”, but then, I said, “Good for them!  For trying and being proactive.”  Quite honestly, I’m DONE with the diet/exercise resolutions.  A resolution in that area needs to be a sincere lifestyle change, not just something you wake up one morning, the day after New Year’s Eve, to set out to accomplish, in hopes of accomplishing it.  BUT… KUDOS to those who’s resolutions HAPPEN to be that.  I pray it is a success for you.  In this life, with children, and constantly being on the go, I just cannot restrict or refine myself to carrots and lettuce.  It’s truly just making WISER eating choices.  There will be times Chuck E. Cheese is where I am at.  Do I eat the pizza?  Or do I choose the salad bar?  I think my point is made.  I will say, “wiser eating choices” has NOT been successful in my home over the last 10 days, for ME.  I have enjoyed eating ice cream for lunch and Five Guys for dinner.  YUM!  This Sunday is the day however, where I go back to making WISER eating choices, but again, this is NOT my resolution, it’s my lifestyle.  Every now and again, I love to splurge and it’s usually during the holidays.

So what are my New Year Resolutions or “LIFEASTYLE CHANGES” as I like to call them?  I have a few.  Here they are…

Intimately study and worship my Lord.  I have been getting up at 5 am to study God’s word for at least a year now, possibly two.  Some weeks I am prompt.  Other times, I am not.  And some days, I don’t get up at all.  My dear friend Ashely and I hold each other accountable, each morning, by texting one another at 4:55 am or a little after.  Spending time with the Lord before my house wakes up sets the tone for my day.  It makes my mind focused on Him and what he commands of me.  I have also added getting into bed at night, with my husband, to read while he studies.  I love when my children come in and see us reading together instead of watching television.  I hope they latch on to it and desire to do the same.  Regardless, how can I place my hope and faith in something that I don't know.  I'll never know God FULLY, but I want to TRY to know him as best as possible.

Let my hair down.  Be a FUN mom.  Most people who know me, know I am pretty regimented.  I don’t think that will EVER change.  I strive for routine, structure, organization, and cleanliness.  But I realize, I take life way too serious.  I am so uptight.  It causes me to sometimes lack joy because I am way too focused on the list of things “to do”… says who???  Says my OCD mind.  I think that as much as I love my children, CHILDREN don’t go hand in hand with routine, structure, organization, and cleanliness.  Often times, quite honestly, they destroy the ability for those desires to take place or to be achieved, even in the smallest realm.  And to be even more brutally honest, my resentment builds and I loose it. They are the victims of that explosion.  I want to be a joyful mom: a mom that lives out the gospel for my children to see, not a mom that is a total hypocrite.  If I lack joy, because I take life too serious, how can I live out the gospel for them to witness?  So rather than clean my hardwood floors, after Ty got off the bus yesterday, I had a “thumb war” with him, jumped on the trampoline, and read 15 minutes of his new Michale Vick book with him.  It felt good to have fun and be goofy.  THEN, I got back to being a wife and a mom. The fun can't last all day long.

SEEK TO SHOW HOSPITALITY – The Lord commands us to be hospitable AND it’s something I struggle with, but probably NOT for the reasons you just assumed.  I struggle with being hospitable because I want to serve my guests with perfection.  It takes time to design a menu, to shop for it, to cook it, and to clean your home to perfection with THREE kids (see… they destroy my abilities to be perfect … I am sure that was God’s plan for me).  Darren and I have agreed to open up our home more often.  We are going to start with inviting ONE couple or family over a month. As it becomes easier to do and as we see the rewards it brings to everyone involved, we will try to push it to every three weeks.  I also hope to show hospitality in others ways… cooking a meal for someone who’s just had a baby or who’s family member has passed away, sending out more cards, buying something for someone in need, possibly watching a friend’s child(ren) during a doctor appointment etc.  PLEASE HOLD ME TO THIS!  THIS IS CRTICAL FOR ME and MY OBEDIENCE TO THE LORD. 

PRINT PHOTOS AND PUBLISH BLOG INTO A BOOK - I take MOUNDS of photos and blog a ton, but I haven't printed ONE photo since the twins have been born.  My plan to is print all the photos I have taken since Ty was 3 years old and publish my blogs (all three) into books.  I know Darren will be thrilled about this.

As you can see, I stepped out of my comfort zone in creating these resolutions.  I think in some way, all of these transformations sort of go together (except the last one:).  I'm definitely NOT unrealistic.  I realize these practices will take some time; after all, I will have to retrain my old ways to new ways.  I’ll let you know how life begins to change for me as I really dig into accomplishing these lifestyle changes.  Thanks for listening/reading!