New Year's Resolutions

This is it- the end of 2009. By far the biggest event that took place in our household this year was the birth of our daughter in September. (And before she arrived, all the preparations for her arrival! So basically, 2009 was the year of baby.) And I couldn’t have wished for the year to have gone any other way.

Our daughter is now 3 months old and brings so much joy to our hearts that I cannot imagine life without her. What a delight it will be as we watch her grow in 2010. How exciting it will be seeing her personality form and imagining the person she will become.

Being a parent has to be my greatest blessing- a blessing I will try to stop and thank God for each day, even when it’s hard to. (You know, the days when you are waking up 5 times during the middle of the night and blindly searching in the dark for a lost paci, or the days when those sore little gums turn your once happy baby into a meltdown queen.) Because, in the end, these days will fly by so fast.

So, I will savor snow days with my precious baby. I will savor seeing her smile and watching as she looks for me when she hears my voice….
It’s New Year’s Eve and that would normally call for one thing- a list. But this year, I’m going to do something different. I’m not going to make a “Top 10 List” of things I want to accomplish in 2010. Sure, I have some goals. I would like to live healthier. I would like to think more consciously about how I spend the money God has entrusted me with. I would like to read more. Paint more. Exercise more….yadda yadda…. Any of these on your list?......yadda yadda…..
But the things I want most in 2010? The ones that I want to sit down one year from now and remember, can’t be measured on a check-off list.

The things I want most in 2010 would be: collecting a treasure of memories to store up for when my baby is all grown. Spending moments gazing in wonder at the shear miracle I am privileged to witness each day. Taking tiny moments and making them feel large. Because at the end of a year, your family will love you whether or not you’ve lost those 5 extra pounds or gotten that promotion. After all, would you be more heartsick if you didn’t fulfill a New Year’s Resolution or if you felt like you had missed out on cherishing your loved ones as much as they deserved?

So my New Year’s Resolution this year is to not make a list. And believe me- I am a list queen- a post-it fanatic!
This year, I intend to do things differently.
This year, I want to be open for all that God has for me.

The author of my “list” this year isn’t me.

This year, I pass my pen to God.

Because at the end of the year, that’s who all the glory should be given to anyway.

Ramblings

Ok. There are only 3 more days of 2009 left. Christmas has come. Christmas has gone. Hausta lavista holiday season. This time of year makes me want to “do it all over again.” I remember asking as a child, “ Can we rewrap the presents and open them again tomorrow?” It wasn’t that I was sad that I didn’t have more “stuff,” I just didn’t want that sense of anticipation and excitement to end. This time of year, with the new year approaching, I search my thoughts for what I can anticipate with excitement…. Snow falling, warm cups of tea, decorating my house with snowflakes and snowmen, wearing mittens and scarves, watching my daughter learn to sit up, searching her gums for that first tooth, and hearing her first giggle. There is so much to stop and be thankful for. The holidays are over, but the real gift of Christmas, the gift of Jesus, is one that we can daily be humbled by and joyful of. What are you thankful for this winter?