A New Year!

"Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines;

Though the labor of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food;

Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls--

Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation."

Habakkuk 3:17

I love the first day of a new year!  It is like a blank page, a fresh start, a new beginning. It is a time for counting your blessings, and for both looking back and looking forward.  I like to spend some time reflecting on the past year, thinking about choices I made that I am pleased with, and the choices that I made that I am not pleased about.  

That was my focus word for 2012:  Choose.  A lot of things happened last year in my life that I did not choose, but I did try very hard to choose the right response to those circumstances.  As I reflect, I see areas where I could have chosen differently.  And that is how we grow!  We look back at our mistakes, and the resolve to do differently.

As the new year begins, I join millions of other people in making New Year's Resolutions.  I think that resolutions are good to make.  Setting goals is a good thing!  I like to set realistic, attainable goals, but they are goals just the same.  I plan to choose a new focus word for 2013, but I have not selected one yet.  I also plan to write down goals or resolutions in several different areas for this year.  Some of my categories will include spiritual, physical, homemaking, homeschooling, service, and family.  Like all of the other recent holidays, New Year's has arrived before I was completely ready, and I am still sorting out my thoughts and making my plans.

Today I began my Bible reading goal for 2013:  reading the Old Testament all the way through once and reading the New Testament four times.  This plan requires six chapters of reading, six days a week--three chapters in the O.T. and three chapters in the N.T. Here is a link to the plan. My husband and my older two girls are reading this same plan.  Clay (13) is either going to read the O.T once or the N.T. four times.  Leah (8) will be reading the N.T.--one chapter a day.  I think she will get through the N.T. at least two times this way.  Since Sam is still a beginning reader, he is not going to be reading his Bible independently this year!  However, he still joins us for daily Bible study, and I read to him from a Bible story book at bedtime each night.

I began my New Year's Day today with a 5 mile run with Leanna.  Since it was raining, we ran side by side on the treadmills in our basement.  Leah has been telling me for several days now that she wanted me to rest on New Year's Day.  I am not sure where she got this idea, but the more she mentioned it, the better it sounded to me!  So I made muffins for our family's breakfast, took a shower, and then went back to bed!  Her plan for me includes computer time, reading books, playing games on my iPad, and her bringing me a Coke in bed!  What a great plan!  So today I will rest.  And I will catch up on my December blog posts.  Also I plan to redo our chore charts, daily schedule, and update our weekly meal plan.  I have a stack of cookbooks beside my bed along with Les Miserables--I am on page 52.  Finally, I will list my resolutions and goals for this year and choose my focus word.

If you have some resolutions that you would like to share or a focus word for 2013, please leave a comment.  I love reading other people's ideas!

Happy New Year!