New Years Resolutions

I don't usually buy in to this whole resolution thing, but I'm feeling pensive and inspired today, so here goes...

1. Blog more!
I do this about once a year. I randomly stumble onto someone's blog that inspires me and makes me think "I can do that!". So I resolve to try again this year to put more in this blog than just pictures. I don't think anyone's really reading anymore, but hey, I can document these things for my own enjoyment, right? Most people are my friends on facebook now, and I post pictures there, so this blog is sort of changing with the times.

2. Be more honest
No I don't just mean don't lie ;) I mean more honest with my feelings. I tend to react emotionally to my surroundings, rather than sitting back, analyzing, calculating and deciding how I should or want to react. I want to work on this, especially my patience.

3. Work on becoming a "Woman of Grace"
Earlier in 2009 I joined a mom's group at our Church. In all honesty I joined for two reasons: 1) It meets in the evening after work, which works well for me, and 2) It was marketed as a group for moms with kids under 6 so I thought it was more of a social-network-kind-of-group. It took me until the 3rd meeting to realize it was a bible study. Which at first horrified me. I have never been a bible-thumping, shove-it-in-your-face religious nut. I like to quietly worship in my own way. But I really think God was calling me to this, because by the time I realized my mistake, I had formed friendships. And I was enjoying myself. We started reading a book called "Becoming a Woman of Grace". Each chapter is short, easy, and leads you directly to passages that get the point across for that lesson. And I began learning! But boy I learned that am I not a woman of grace. So, I am resolved to work on that this year.

4. Be more generous
The last year has been trying on a lot of people. We personally know several people who lost jobs or almost lost jobs, etc. Both Mike and I also face the (although small) possibility of layoffs at both our jobs this coming year. But I refuse to be negative, and feel that we should share some of our good fortune with others less fortunate. We usually try to give money to several charities during the year, but I often give Mike a hard time about how much to give. When I really reflect about that though, I have to ask why? I think it stems from the fact that Mike often resists spending money on us. And sometimes that irritates me, but really there are so many people who are more deserving than us. Material things are just that, and we have so much love in our house, do we really need so much material? The true answer is no. So I am resolving to be more humble and generous this year.