Making resolutions?

T'is the last day of 2012. Time to look back through the journal to see what progress or what weaknesses lie exposed. Do you review the year as I do?

I started the year exhausted, working 10-14 hours, 6 days a week, on my dissertation. Once that was done, I partied. I've never celebrated as joyfully as this year - the dragon was slain, the un-doable done.

Then I rested. My journal shows a lack of momentum for months afterwards. I was so mentally drained that it was hard to focus. So I did very little. I puttered. I played piano. I painted a bit. I read a lot of nonsense and light fiction. I watched Korean dramas and followed Spy and Arrow on Hulu+

In November things started to heat up again. "Take up your bed and walk already!" was the message I heard during devotions. I started Monvee (from "mon vie," a spiritual discipleship program hosted by our church) and began to read enriching books. Someone added me as their accountability partner and a friend coached me through some sessions of a "Get Unstuck Bootcamp." (Click here for the website.) I added some exercise classes.

And suddenly I was in motion again. Thank God!

My 2013 resolutions are intended to foster spiritual life, better physical health, strong relationships, and mental vigor. Real Simple says we need 4 tips to keep our resolutions (click here for the full article):
1. be specific
2. make goals public
3. substitute "good" behaviors for "bad"
4. keep track

I don't have any earthshaking goals. It seems that keeping the ones I always choose is hard work enough:

• read more scripture
• pray and wait in expectation
• be more grateful
• read and write
• do art
• be hospitable
• and work hard at whatever is at hand

What is your most desired resolution for 2013? Why?

Read more:
*Some wandered in the wilderness lost and homeless. Hungry and thirsty, they nearly died. 'LORD, help!' they cried in their trouble, and he rescued them from their distress. He led them straight to safety, to a city where they could live.

Let them praise the LORD for his great love and for the wonderful things he has done for them. For he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things" Psalm 107:4–9

*My eyes fail with watching for your promise; I ask, “When will you comfort me?” Psalm 119:82

*Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it. Proverbs 3:27

*Be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. James 1:22  

*May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and through grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope, comfort your hearts. 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

Moravian Prayer: God of endings and beginnings, may we bring glory tonight as we close this year and begin another. May our faith in your promise remain strong as you breathe your spirit upon us.

Gracious and giving Savior, forgive us when we withhold our power. Forgive us when we act on the behalf of a brother or a sister. Let us be fed by worship this day and go out to be your hands and feet. Amen.

Laugh and carry on

"To truly laugh, you must be able to take your pain, and play with it!" ~ Charlie Chaplin

Today was a day when I could have laughed for 12 hours straight. W wakes at 3am and sets off downstairs not to disturb my sleep. I am still awake when he comes back at 4, showers, and leaves for the airport. I fall asleep just before my alarm goes off at 5.30.

"Off switch! Quick" Swipe across the IPhone. Sweet silence. "No way am I going to exercise class. I'll walk the dogs later."


I fall asleep for a half hour just before 7, when our son Jono takes a shower in the bathroom next door. "Might as well get up!" Let the dogs out, except...

"What's the matter with your eye, pup?" Spike's eye is swollen shut, light sensitive, and leaking puss. He sticks right by my side as we walk to the office. He lies down and doesn't move when I leave the room. I call my husband, who okays a vet visit. Our vet can't take us until 4.30pm, and the eye is scabbing over. I call the vet at the bottom of the hill. She can see us at 10.30. Withe 3/4 hour to go, I quickly trace and sew two little dog fleece coats, patterned on one that's a good fit. It's 33oF here this morning.

Time to strap them into the car. My keys are gone. I call W, who tells me where the spare key is, but it takes 10 minutes to find it. We're a minute late to the vet. Spike's scratched his cornea. While we're there, they vaccinate Bella for rabies, distemper, and kennel cough. I haul out the checkbook. Ouch.

We do a couple of walking loops around a nearby park. A nice 88-year-old woman is taking her pug for a walk, so we stop and chat. "Honey, I'm trying to stay on my feet. That's why I am out here." Good for her!

When we get back to the car, I check email. A Craigslist post-er has gotten back to me: she has the dryer model (with enough poodle power!) that I sold last week. Hers is $20 less than I sold it. Since my "human" blow-dryer overheated and shut down several times while drying Bella last night, I might as well drive 20 miles to Marysville to get it. At the counter, ready to pay, it's apparent that I have used my last check at the vet's. 

"The bank is just down the street, love," says the German lady who runs the pet recycle store. Off we go, then it's back to the store with cash.

It's a 25-minute drive home, by which time the dogs and I are ready for a 2pm breakfast. I put them in their crates with food. I heat the 16-bean soup left from yesterday's supper for myself and head upstairs with a big pot of tea.

All we can do is laugh, shrug, and carry on during wacky days like this one. It's time to crawl under a warm blanket to read another theology book. (So much for my plans of studying the whole day.)

"Days like this happen because you're getting older," says my wise friend. 

"Thanks for that :-)," I think. "Maybe."

Read more: 

*I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart; before the "gods" I will sing your praise. I will bow down toward your holy temple and will praise your name for your love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word. When I called, you answered me; you made me bold and stouthearted. Psalm 138:1-3 NIV

*Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content. Ecclesiastes 1:8 NEV

*Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2 NIV

Lent 3: I love you, O LORD, my strength

Who among your acquaintances is in their early thirties? Are they solid citizens? Responsible adults? Hard-working contributors to society? Would you trust your salvation and the fate of the world to them?

This morning, I was wondering how people felt when an upstart carpenter began wandering the countryside with a band of followers. Crowds flocked to hear him and see him perform miracles the first year, but he ran into serious opposition in years two and three. Political flack, religious accusers… plus he wasn’t the novelty draw anymore. The same twelve disciples, along with some women and other hangers-on, were still around. But they were asking hard questions, too. Some in the inner circle were hinting at a government overthrow so they could be in power.

Jesus would often withdraw to pray and gain perspective. So many demands, so many notions of what he should be doing, so many expectations. Even when he said he’d die and be raised again, his followers just let it slip by them. How much blunter could he be?

Only he and the Father knew what was coming, but Jesus persisted. He put aside every weight and others’ hopes. He kept his love for his Father front and center, and drew strength to become the thirty-something who would acquire the justice our sin demanded, so we could have a relationship with God.

Pause to pray for your thirty-year-old friends sometime today!

--
God's peace to you today!
*But I trust in Your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in Your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, for He has been good to me. Psalm 13:5,6 NIV

*I love you, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies. Psalm 18:1-3 NIV

*And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. …Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won't he also give us everything else? Romans 8:28, 32 NLT