Tuesday, January 4, 2011

2 New {To Me} Things and 1 Thing to Make You LOL :)

Happy New Year, everyone!  We had an awesome New Year’s Eve with two of our dearest friends.  It involved Ben and Jerry’s ice cream before dinner (gotta love going out with a pregnant woman! :), Red Lobster, bowling, and sitting down and watching New Kids on the Block do a terrible performance on tv. ;) 

I am super pumped about this new year ahead!  Rather than make specific goals or resolutions this year, I’m just doing two new things (for now). 

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The first thing is that I’ve chosen a word for the year (as opposed to big goals or specific resolutions), as inspired by my friend Kathy.  My word is “diligent.”  I don’t know about you all, but the older I get, the more I’m becoming one of those people who walks into a room to do one task and 40 minutes later, I’m totally distracted and forget what I was originally there for.  And don’t even get me started on Facebook! Having this word in my head has already helped me immensely in the last few days to be much more productive and stay on task. 

I also chose this word because I want to be more diligent in praying for others.  One of my goals for 2010 was to be more focused during prayer, and try to keep my mind from wandering so much.  I definitely improved over the year (with God’s help), but I still lack discipline in praying for others, so I want to be diligent in that respect. 

I’ve been thinking about the Proverbs 31 woman, and especially verse 27:

“She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.” 

I don’t know about you all, but I can easily waste several HOURS of idle time reading blogs and going on Facebook.  I am certainly not quitting either of those things, but I am purposing to make them less a part of my day. 

The second thing I started this year is a Gratitude Journal.  I got the idea from Sherry from Young House Love (sorry, I don’t remember which post), and thought it was great.  I bought a journal at Target, and each day I have been (and will be) writing just one or two things – big or small – that I’m grateful for each day.  I’m looking forward to reading it in years to come and seeing the things God has done for us. 

Do any of you do anything like what I shared above?  Or do you start the new year in a different way?  I’d love more ideas if you’d like to share!

Lastly, I wanted to leave you with a hilarious video that Layla from The Lettered Cottage posted yesterday.   If you’re anything like my husband, my brother, or me, it will make you laugh out loud – enjoy! :) 

3 comments:

  1. First of all, I love you blog background & header..very pretty! And I also like you need to be more diligent in praying for others! I think this is something we all struggle with. I have so many people that I need to pray for or who ask me to pray for them and sometimes, I forget! I need to start making a list and putting it inside my bible so that I can keep track of everyone & make sure that I pray for everyone I need to be! I also love the idea of a gratitude journal. Big or small, there is always something everyday to be thankful for! Thank you for your post!

    Tonya
    p.s. the video is hilarious!

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  2. I love those two ideas! I've seen a couple of people choose a particular word or quality to focus on for the year, and the journal is a great idea too.

    I didn't do either of those things, but I did get a new book that has meditations on various virtues for each day of the year. Excited to get started with that!

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  3. Love the idea of a gratitude journal. A friend of mine does a prayer journal, and it is SO powerful to look back and see how God has moved. These are great resolutions--or, goals! :)

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