a fresh start: 2013

    We ate our black eyed peas and greens on New Year’s Day.  Did you?

I didn’t intend for December to be such a quiet month here on the blog.  I had said that I wanted to keep the normally busy month as simple as possible and life seemed to hold me to that statement.  Between illnesses, a storm that took out one computer, one vehicle going kapuut and the other trying to do the same, and just the every day busyness of life…it’s easy to see how the blog fell down the list of things to be done as we tried to keep our Christmas season simple and focused.

And now we are here at the beginning of a new year – a fresh start!  I love the new beginnings of a new year and a chance to start anew!

Last year, I loved the idea of choosing a word to help shape my life over the new year.  As I pondered over what word to choose for this year, many words ran through my mind.  But there were a few that kept reappearing.  Words like discipline, self-control, and intentional often came to mind. 

Those reoccurring words helped to shape my new word of the year:

I will focus on:

• growing in my relationship with God through worship, Bible study, journaling, and prayer
• caring for my family and strengthening our relationships
• caring for our home
• caring for myself by eating healthy and exercising
• ministering to others (friends, neighbors, church members, strangers) by using my God-given gifts & talents
• becoming disciplined in areas of weakness in my life

I am excited that focus is my word for the new year because my life has just felt so hap-hazard and out of control lately.  It seems that I’ve become way too lax in many areas of my life and it shows.  I can see it in my attitude, my appearance, our home, and my habits.  Things need to be cleaned up before it all spirals even more out of control!

And just how am I going to incorporate focus into the many parts of my life?

Well that, my friend, is still a work in progress but this much I do know – I am going to take it bit by bit, one area at a time.  Each month I am going to set a goal and that goal will work towards helping me to focus and become more self-disciplined in that area.  So far, I have the goal for January.  But that’s it! (More on that later.)

I’m asking you to keep me accountable as I blog through out the year and share how my new word is changing my life. 

And speaking of the blog…

I know that I mentioned back in the fall that I was going to open a new blog in January.  Bad news…the blog is not ready.  Remember that storm I mentioned back in the first paragraph?  A branch fell from a tree during that storm and sat on an electrical power line in our backyard for a few days.  We had electricity but it was shaky.  The lights would dim and the power would surge when the electric heater would start to blow.  Well, one power surge fried our main computer.  The same computer that has the new blog header that my husband has been working on.  Since we do have a working computer, we will be able to rework the header and the sidebar buttons.  And as soon as we have a little time, that will be done.  I was so hoping for January but it just wasn’t to be…such is the way things work in life. 

Ok y’all…now it’s your turn.  Do you have a word for 2013?  If so, please share it with us. 

Simply in His love,

Adriane