New Year's Resolution

I've got a few New Year's Resolutions. The main two are to learn more scripture and to keep my mouth shut.

If you know me at all you know that I'm not one to hold back on how I feel or what my opinion is. But the Bible's full of teachings about the importance of silence.

In church this morning we talked about being too busy. About how our busyness keeps us from seeing God in every moment. We've got so much clutter (mentally and physically) that adds to the "jumble" in our lives and steals away moments of peace, reflection, and joy in God's blessings.

I've gotten the chance to read Multiple Blessings about Jon and Kate Gosselin's experience with twins and sextuplets. Kate writes the book from her perspective and throughout the entire pregnancy (including the nerve-wracking moment of discovering that there were six sacs in the ultrasound) she talks about how God was there to lift her up and carry her through.

It's made me wonder why it takes disruptions in life- big or small- to remind us to put God and his will first. Why does a person have to be gravely sick before we consider where they might spend eternity? Why do you have to be broker that broke before you read scriptures on money management? Why do we have to go through divorce before we learn to appreciate our partners?

The fact is that so much wisdom comes from experience. And God uses life's ups and downs to bring us back to Him again and again. But I've got to wonder how many ordeals we'd escape if we only started seeking God before the crises. My new hope for the new year is that I can stop letting life get in the way of my relationship with God.

What that means for me as a mom...
Well, I'm going to stop making any mommy decisions regarding my kids without consulting God's master plans for Micah and Caleb. I'm going to try not to freak out in unsteady situations and instead look to God for answers rather than floundering on my own (or worse, taking my problems to everyone, BUT God).

It means I'll seek God regarding where to live, what to do with our money, the public/private/home school decision, even meal plans. I've already seen the small ways this kind of thinking has brought peace to our lives, so I hope I can keep it up. It's a weakness of mine to make hasty decisions just so that I can tidy up a situation and mark it "case closed." So, it will be a struggle for me to calm down and let God take over.

(Pictures of Christmas Get Together #4 coming up in next blog...)