New Years Day was a pretty lazy one. My hubby and I slept in and watched some TV. We did get a little productive and took down all the Christmas decorations and got them put away....plus did a little dusting and vacuuming too. For dinner we headed to some friends' house for a shrimp boil! It was YUM!!!!!! There was andouille sausage, polish sausage, shrimp, potatoes, and corn....after they boiled it all, it was dumped out on the counter for all of us to dig in! We had so much fun!!!! After dinner, we visited, had a little dessert and watched the Tostito Bowl.All in all, it was a fantastic start to a brand new year! I love new starts. It makes me feel like I get a "d0-over". It feels fresh. It feels like the slate has been wiped clean. Nothing has been written yet. And, it gives hope to what the future holds.
2010 wasn't horrible, but I did have a big year of spiritual growth and trying to figure out why God does some things. What's funny is that He jumped right into my heart after Christmas. I opened my bible study to find the passage of 2 Samuel 24:1-10. God asks David to take a census. When David returns, he realizes that he had sinned and God punished David and all of Israel. The Bible does not explain what the sin was that God was punishing them for. In the study, Beth Moore poses the question, "How has Satan tried to make you believe that God is unfair?" As soon as I read it, I laughed out loud! The last few months, I have been so frustrated with God and how some aspects of our lived has played out. The day before, I truly had a day where I told myself that God hated us. Satan is very much trying to make me believe that God doesn't care about us...even though everything in me KNOWS that He does. There are just days that are truly hard. And, what makes them harder is not understanding God's ways, this side of Heaven.
So, just like this passage, where we don't understand God's ways....I have felt that a lot in 2010. Beth Moore goes on to explain 4 things that we need to understand:
1. "We don't always have the explanations for certain events and acts of God."
2. "He is sovereign."
3. "He owes us no explanation."
4. "He purposes to teach us to walk by faith and not by sight."
So, what are we to do??
"When we think God is unfair: Acknowledge that His ways are higher than ours; And, Acknowledge what we DO know about God."
She closed the study with these questions:
"How do you handle things you can't understand about God and His ways?"
"Do they make you doubt?"
"Do they make you tired?"
"Are they worth worrying about?"
I always say that I just want God to give me a road map. I don't really care what the outcome is, I just want to know what it is before it gets here. I laugh at myself as I'm typing b/c I know the reason that I don't need a road map: He wants me to trust Him. I have God as my "driver". There is nothing to fear! There is nothing worth worrying about.
My desire every year is to be more faithful with my Saviour. For my intimate, personal relationship to grow even more every day. To become more like Him! Its not a resolution...its a process. Its life! Its who I am. I pray that as we continue through 2011, my mind will be on my God. I will trust Him, especially when I don't understand His ways. I pray I continually grow in the grace and knowledge of my Saviour, Jesus Christ. I praise Him that He goes before me and already knows what I will face this year. I praise Him that He will be there no matter what.
I do traditionally make a New Year's Resolution. When I started this 7 years ago, I kept it simple. The last two years, I've over-done it and put too much out there. Its easier for me to remember the simple. So, this year my resolution is to "eat less". Simple. I was about to say that it has nothing to do with my spiritual life, but it actually does b/c its a temptation I struggle with on almost a daily basis. God always gives us an "out" when it comes to temptation. I know so many people make this resolution b/c we just splurged on holiday yummy-ness, but this is more than just losing weight. For me, its refocusing my thought life to be more on my Saviour instead of food. To choose obedience over disobedience. To choose the Spirit over the flesh. I can't say I won't fail, but I am going to give my all to break this stronghold this year.
I also have a goal. I call it a goal b/c I can't measure this and I'm not going to make a list of rules to follow, b/c then I will just set myself up for failure. I want to look back over this year and see that my heart has become more servant-minded. I want to give back to others....whether they are considered "needy" or not. All of us NEED. All of us hurt. All of us desire love. I want to fix my eyes on my Saviour, who was the ultimate servant and become more like Him.
I pray you all had a beautiful New Year. I pray that you can go into 2011 with hope and see it as fresh and clean and new! Happy New Year!
(my other goal for this month is to finish my wedding blogging...however, Ruger seems to have broken my connecting outlet into my external hard-drive, so we'll see if I actually get it done. However, if it does get fixed, you may be bored to tears with all the wedding stuff that will be posted this month....just warning you!)
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