the BEST thing i can do

i am so impressed in my little heart that the very best thing i can do

for my family, my husband and my friends is to pray.

sometimes i feel like i lack SO many things. time, for starters! then there's talents

and patients, love.  oh my.  this has been overwhelming me lately!
wanting to be so much more.  to do so much more for the
people i love.  and even branching out to people i don't know so well,
or at all.
but i can't.  at least not well.  i want to do things according to His will.
not my own.  but i can't.  UNLESS>>>
I SPEND TIME WITH HIM!
reflecting and reading His word. worshipping and soaking up His goodness.
tasting and SEEING that HE is GOOD!
this is where it starts.  not to say that spending time and having a walk with
Him makes things all perfect and peachy.  but He guides. He holds. He carries
our burdens.  do ya'll know that we were not designed to carry our own burdens?
He actually made us in such a way that we need HIM to take our burdens!  this is good news friends!  i get so excited and joy just bubbles up in me as a write this!
we have a mighty savior friends!
so, my point to all this...to encourage you to take that further step with me this day, this week, this year
and reach out for Him.  if you have not made a commitment to nurture your relationship
with God in a deeper way and let Him take all those burdens you weren't
even meant to carry in the first place, make time for Him.  He loves you so!

i prefer the early hours of the morning. i make a steamy cup of tea and wrap myself in a blanky.
stare out the window and breath deep.  pray.  plead.  read. savor.
 the best advice i could give a mama is
to try to wake up before the kiddos and spend that quiet time with Him and
the Bible.  let Him speak to your heart and lay it all out at His feet.  He's waiting for you.

Goals

so, i don't usually use the term "new years resolution" for some reason. 

i tend to stick to the simple word "goals". 

and the way i usually arrive at the ideas for my goals is through

reflection from the previous year, prayer, and having my eyes 

opened to some random things that just plain stink in this home (or more likely this heart!) 

and need to change.  change does not come over night darn it!
i am trying to learn that the fact is that these goals
in life need to be cultivated, practiced and prayed over.  lately i have been asking
God to give me a heart of conviction.  not for any one thing, but for many
things.  that i would be a woman who would stand stronger for Him and trust
Him with everything.
i have to apologize for writing so all over the place.  i am used to journaling for only myself
where it's okay that things are scattered and make no sense to anyone else!
here's a few pics of these sweet people God has given me to serve...

okay, this last one was to make you laugh.


here goes...some of my thoughts and goals for the year

Spiritual:

-Continuing to make my morning quiet/devotion time a priority

-Digging deeper into the Bible with Conviction

-Intercessory prayer

-Praying with more people right there on the spot!  Let's do it not just say we are going to!

-Be about a million times better example of Jesus to my kids 

-Learn more about Him so I can share more about Him

-Love with Christlike love -- deep and perfect and true -- void of my ugly self

-Empty to fill

-There is always so much in this area. i could go on and on!

- Read more good books

Physical:

-Continue working out 5 days a week (i do understand this may sound extreme, but i promise it's not!  i have a very devoted workout partner who works out with me and we just love starting our days super early with a workout. and it helps me stay on a good schedule to just do it all week instead of intermittently throughout the week.)

-Add in the elliptical 2-3 time per week (I saved up for one and it should be here soon!  i have always wanted one!)

-I have gone without sugar since the new year.  wow.  that's all i have to say.

-I have gone without white flour too.

-To not eventually freak out from not having white sugar and flour (it's my life dream to be able to say NO to these two awful things!)

-Get outside more

-Juice once a day

Mothering/Homeschool/Wife:

-Love on them more more more hold tight and soak up every moment

-Softer tones

-More consistant disciplining with love of course

-Take it slow

-Plan better for more fun activities and projects that will be remembered

-Show them Jesus 

-MORE DATES with husband  Shooting for 2 a month! we've gone years at a time without a date so this will be quite a feat but our marriage depends on it!

-Be very attentive to husbands needs and show lots of love  

-Pray and Pray and Pray for the wisdom and strength to care for my family the way they deserve!!!!!

Fresh Start!

i love reflection.  it does so much for my heart.  for my walk with God.  for my relationships.  after this holiday season, which was pretty chill thankfully, i am in total reflective mode as i go into this next year.  we are calming life down and getting back into the swing of school and normal bedtimes and it feels very nice and cozy around here.  i feel so blessed to live in the country, where i seldom go into town, and when i do it's usually just to grocery shop and head back home again.  it has made it so much easier for me not to be affected by all the hype of Christmas.  the little i do see makes me sick to my stomach and yearn for the world to know that Jesus wants so much more for us than to be such obsessive, miserable, materialistic self seeking beings.  i rest in that He has guarded my little families hearts to all this garbage and we usually have a quiet and simple holiday season spent with family, minimal decor and gifts, yet we have such a great time! i don't mean to sound negative at all, as i understand that most people absolutely love Christmas, but i personally struggle with this holiday and all that it entails on a worldly level. 

even with this season coming to an end in pains me to take down these reminders in my home 

of His entrance into this world.  so i won't.  they'll stay a while. :)

yes, this is our thankful tree, and yes, it's still up.  i can't bear to take it down just yet.  

it brings my heart joy!

what's on my heart today, more than anything, is just my simple need for Jesus.

without Him, i just can't. 

i'm excited to lean on HIM more this year!

I'll be back tomorrow with some of my personal goals and family goals for the year!