New Years Eve

New years eve.

Waffle cone tree.

I am worn out, in a good way, from a weekend with family.  I just woke up from a delicious nap, and my brain is slowly starting to clear. I want to start thinking about the next influx of company, the next round of Christmas, that starts in two days.

Because of the way our break falls, we have one more week with no school, and for us, it is to be filled with snow, and family from out of state, and more Christmas.

I like stretching out the good things like this.

I know it's a bit of a fad, but I can't help it. I am also beginning to think of good plans to implement in the New Year.

My plans are rough, but actually much more detailed than this. I will resist laying them all out here. They will change, I know. They are too ambitious, or wrongly directed, or simply not practical. But in what ways? I cannot see that yet, because I can't see the things I cannot control that are coming to me in 2013.


With the help of God, I will do what is in front of me.
And maybe, I can guess where to start:

Care (and be cared-for, or caring is impossible.)


Health
I want to learn to care for my body better. I want a better relationship with food.  I want to want health more than I want junk. I want to make better use of the abundance we have in this country, to feed myself and my family the things that are good for our bodies.

I want to obsess about food less, and I am coming to realize that in order to do that, first, I need to learn more.

I write about the things I care about. I'm going to make myself write about these things, in hopes of helping myself continue to care. (and maybe blessing you, too. Or confusing you. Or giving you something to laugh at. Time will tell.)

Intellectual  Health
I have a wonderful long list of books that I hope to read this year (and I'll tell you about the ones I love.)

Family
I look at the little ones in my home, and I prayerfully consider what my mommy-job will require of me.  How can I best care for my family?

I can anticipate a few things:

I will continue to grow up with my tween, by connecting with her, and by being stretched in my understanding of femininity.
I will read a few books on sensory disorders (any recommendations?) and chart new territories with my young one who is wonderfully, differently made.
I will embrace chaos, I will fight chaos, I will enjoy my kids, and I will lose my temper more than once.

His Word will be woven into our days. The breath of His Spirit will be our life.

Life interrupts.
As I wrote this post, I got a text from my husband. A parishioner is having open-heart surgery today, and he has been at the hospital with her family since early this morning. He just sent me a message:

Things are going horribly wrong here.

That is all I know. He has not answered his phone.

Life interrupts.

God interrupts.

Death interrupts.

Who am I to resolve and plan?

Care.
The love of Christ in me will compel me to drop my plans, my resolutions, and to simply do what is in front of me.
Care for my husband, my family, my church family.
Be cared-for by God and others.
Be loved, love and serve and pray, with all my weakness, and with all my might because it is His love that works in me.

Of all the things I wrote above, there is only one that is certain:


His Word will be woven into our days. The breath of His Spirit will be our life.

God's blessings in 2013.