Finally, Some Resolutions!

I was overly ambitious with the resolutions last year. Actually, I started pondering them before Christmas. How's that for ambitious? Sadly, most of them fizzled out before Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but nonetheless. I was quite hopeful. This year I have been a little more skiddish about such things. Last year was kind of a dreadful year. Lots of things happened that not even the most insane resolution list could have prevented, but I ended 2009 a little hesitant to make such big resolutions as last years. Why would I want another year of disappointment?

So here I am, the second day of a new year in a new decade. How can I be sure that this year will be better than the last? Than the last ten? The last 32? Part of me wants to just forgo the resolutions this year. After all, if I never really keep them then isn't making them just a waste? But then there's that other part of me. The hopeful part. The childlike side that still jumps up and down in gleeful delight at the sight of snowfall. The hopeless romantic that still believes her true love will come someday, soon. The hungry soul that still pursues the God she's never seen. The person who, after such a year of trials large and small, still thinks resolutions are a good idea. Who still believes this is the year that will be different.

I hope this is the side of me that wins out in 2010. So here are my resolutions. They're not here for your benefit, but for my own remembrance. I lay them before my King as well, in great hope that He, working in me, will see them through.

My heart still hopes.

1. Lose weight. It's always on my list. Last year I managed not to gain back all that I lost in the first 6 months of the year. It was a relief to get on the scale this morning and find that out. But this year I'd really like to meet my weight loss goals.

2. Get up earlier in the morning. The reason is threefold. One, the most important, is to have a quality quiet time before the Lord. This part of my life has been lacking over the last few months. In return, a lot of other things in my life have suffered for it. I don't want this year to be that way too. Second, to exercise. See resolution #1. Lose weight. Exercise is an important part of that. Third, to blog and be a better part of the greater blogging community. I really don't have any other time to catch up on my google reader than in the morning. And you guys are really important to me. But over the last few months I have really neglected you too! And I don't want to do that this year.

3. Organization and Decluttering. Last August I started a mission organization project with great gusto. Sometime after Labor Day that all fell apart. The only thing I really completed was my closet (but yay for completing something, right?) and the rest is still a mess. I believe a decluttered life will be a happier one. So.

4. Better Money Management. I would like to get some of my debts paid down, and save towards getting a new laptop and a car. Also, I would like to save money for a family vacation this summer. I want to make wiser spending choices than I've made in the past.

5. Be a More Loving Sister, Daughter, Friend and Sister in Christ. It's that continuing debt that is never paid off, right? To love and love more. I want to become a woman who loves well. And I am most certainly not there yet. But it is a goal.

6. Have a Passionate {and consistent} {and purposeful} {and dynamic} Prayer Life. As I mentioned in resolution #2 my quiet times have been lacking. So has my prayer life. I've been thinking about the scripture in James that says you have not because you ask not, and I realize that I haven't been asking much. What a different year I could have if I would do just that.

Also, I have a word for the year, but I will share that on another post. This word scares me. I'm not gonna lie. But I believe more than anything that God has given it to me this year. And I cannot wait to see where He takes me.


My heart still hopes.